PRESS EDITION 

Released for MONDAY morning newspapers of DECEM- 
BER 3, and thereafter. Full permission to reprint is given 
to the press.. Serial use is suggested. 



CONQUEST AND KULTUR 

AIMS OF THE GERMANS 
IN THEIR OWN WORDS 



COMPILED BY 

WALLACE NOTESTEIN 

and 

ELMER E. STOLL 

OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA 




'^:, ' ' ' ISSUED BY 

The Committee on Public Information 

The secretary OF STATE 
The secretary OF WAR 
The secretary OF THE NAVY 
GEORGE CREEL 



November 15, 1917 



WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE ! 1917 



Mcwaogrmpfe 



1^^ 






tiA-fijV. W . V 



'N^n 



THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INFORMA 

TION 



(Established by order of the President April 14, 1917.) 

Distributes free, except as noted, the following 
publications: 

I. Red, White, and Blue Series: 

No. 1. How the War Came to America (English, German, 
Polish, Bohemian, Italian, Spanish, and Swedish). 

No. 2. National Service Handbook (primarily for libraries, 
schools, Y. M. C. A.'s, clubs, fraternal organizations, 
etc., as a guide and reference work on all forms of 
war activity, civil, charitable, and military). 

No. 3. The Battle Line of Democracy. Prose and Poetiy of 
the Great War. Sold at cost. Price, 15 cents. 

No. 4. The President's Flag Day Speech with Evidence of 
Germany's Plans. 

No. 5. Conquest and Kultur. The Germans' Aims in Their 
Own Words, by Wallace Notestein and E. E. Stoll. 
Other issues in preparation. 

II. War Information Series: 

No. 1. The War Message and Facts Behind It, 

No. 2. The Nation in Arms, by Secretaries Lane and Baker. 

No. 3. The Government of Germany, by Prof. Charles D. 

Hazen. 
No. 4. The Great War: from Spectator to Participant, by 

Prof. A. C. McLaughlin. 
No. 5. A War of Self Defense, by Secretary Lansing and 

Assistant Secretary of Labor Louis F. Post. 
No. 6. American Loyalty by Citizens of German Descent. 
No. 7. Amerikanische Biirgertreue. A translation of No. 6. 
No. 8. American Interest in Popular Government Abroad, 

by Prof. E. B. Greene. 
No. 9. Home Reading Course for Citizen-Soldiers. 
No. 10. First Session of the War Congress, by Charles Merz. 
Other issues will appear shortly. 

III. Official Bulletin: 

Accurate daily statement of what all agencies of government 
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postmasters (to be put on bulletin boards). Subscrip- 
tion price $5 per year. 

Address requests and orders to 

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FOREWORD. 



Tlie present war is in the last analysis distinctly a war 
between ideals and thus betv/een the peoples who uphold 
them. On the one hand are the peoples who have faith in 
themselves and in each other and in the ordered ways of law 
and justice by which they have sought in the past to regulate 
both their domestic and their international relations. Upon 
the other hand are those whose ideals have been fixed for 
them by dynastic aims and ambitions which could only be 
translated into reality through subservience to authority and 
by the unrestricted use of force. The firet group has long 
had a unity in its fundamental attitudes which it did not 
realize until the war endangered and revealed them. 

The great self-governing nations, England and France, long 
ago passed on to America the best of what they had estab- 
lished or dreamed of establishing in the way of popular gov- 
ernment. Our war for independence left our -institutions and 
ways of thinking and acting distinctly Enghsh, and it aided 
the English in their own struggle to bring monarchy and 
political aristocracy into subordination to the will of the 
great English nation. It also revealed to us how much we 
had in common in our newer world ideals vv^ith the liberalism 
of that France which had already found its thought about 
human rights and relations in advance of the Bourbon insti- 
tutions and ideas that governed it politically. It should 
never be forgotten that Burke and Chatham and Fox and 
Barre in England and Lafayette and Turgot and Beau- 
marchais in France held political ideas which made them 
the supporters of the American colonies and the intellectual 
comrades of Washington, Franklin, and Jefferson. Here in 
this America they saw their ideals molded into realities 
and recognized that we were fighting their battles and that 
a blow struck at autocracy's effort to rule America would 
shake its weakening hold upon both France and England. 
Together these three great nations have climbed upward 

3 



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4 FOREWOED. 

toward the same sunlit heights. Their band has now 
become a goodly one, as the South American Republics, 
Italy, Belgium, Norway, Japan, China, and at last Russia 
have caught the vision. 

In varied ways and in different tongues these peoples have 
sought to realize and express their idea that government is 
an instrument devised by men for the benefit of human 
beings. They have held that liberty and law spring from 
the same soil, that reason is the only conqueror that does 
not rule slaves, that the state is an agency, not an end or an 
entity, and is something larger and better than any man 
only when it helps every man to be something larger and 
better, in some way more just, more humane, more en- 
lightened, more thoughtless of self and more thoughtful of 
his fellow men. They have not permanently sought to 
restrict to one class as privilege what is the common property 
of all nor to deny to any nation because it is small that op- 
portunity for self-realization which is the easy heritage of 
the more favored. 

The democracy they have won for themselves, that has 
made citizens where before there were subjects, they have 
almost unconsciously come to feel must touch hands with 
other self-governing peoples and all must uphold an inter- 
national law that expresses for all nations the ideals which 
each has found for itself. 

In all these things America has allied its better thought 
with the better thought of the nations which have taken 
their place in this imorganized league of liberty, this en- 
larging commonwealth of justice, this newer polity of a com- 
mon humanity. Its ideals, from the days of Otis and Adams 
and Henry and Washington through Monroe and Webster 
and Lincoln, have been interpreted to it over and over again 
and have echoed back to us in the language of Bright and 
Gladstone and Morley and Bryce, of Mazzini and Cavour, of 
Lamartine and Thiers and Gambetta. We in America have 
seen these other peoples rallying in this war to the defense 
of these ideals, the liberal world's common property. And 
now the call has come to us anew voiced in measured words 
that those who in the past have toiled and striven, have 
fought and fallen, would know as the spoken message of 
their silent sacrifice. This America of ours has heard the 



FOEEWOED. 5 

call and stands embattled for the ideals that represent a 
heritage, an acliievement, a hope. 

America knows what it is defending. Does it as clearly 
understand what it is fighting against ? Does it realize that 
other peoples have had imposed upon them ways of thinking 
between which and our thought and the thought of all 
forward-looking people there can be no compromise? Does 
it know that the ideals of government which it struck down 
in its farthest past, bringing new liberties to all English- 
speaking peoples — the ideals which France banished with 
the Bourbons and the Bonapartes, and Italy drove out with 
the Hapsburgs, ideals that crashed to earth in Russia but 
yesterday with the fall of the Romanoffs — does it know that 
these ideals now dominate the Teutonic powers and make 
them the fitting allies of the Turk in thought and purpose 
and method ? 

Three years of war as conducted by Prussian militarism 
have done much to acquaint us with the purposes and 
methods of the medievally-minded group which controls 
the Central Powers. Yet a full and convincing proof of the 
distortion of the purposes of a whole nation can come only 
from the utterances of those who planned and promoted the 
war. One may not draw an indictment against a whole 
nation, but it is at least permissible to allow its responsible 
leaders, intellectual and political, to define the creed accord- 
ing to which they have shaped the thought and action of the 
German people in the past generation. That is all this 
pamphlet does. Against such a confession the guilty can 
not enter a plea in abatement or avoidance, neither now nor 
hereafter. The pied pipers of Prussianism who have led the 
German people to conquest and to ignominy and to infamy 
are here given their ujiending day before the court of public 
opinion. It is a motley throng who are here heard in praise 
of war and international suspicion and conquest and intrigue 
and devastation — emperors, kings, princes, jDoets, philoso- 
phers, educators, journalists, legislators, manufacturers, mili- 
tarists, statesmen. Line upon line, precept upon precept, 
they have written this ritual of envy and broken faith and 
rapine. Before them is the war god to whom they have 
offered up their reason and their humanity, behind them the 
misshapen image they have made of the German people, 
leering with bloodstained visage over the ruins of civilization 



6 FOREWOKD. 

There is no thinking human being who would not gladly 
blot out the whole ugly record of these pages both because 
of what it advocates and because of the untold anguish its 
translation into deeds has caused. But it can never be done. 

Only its full and fair presentation can enable the American 
people to know what it is from which they are defending their 
land, their institutions and their very lives. Only from such 
a carefully documented self-revelation of German ideals can 
they fully know what they must overcome — not only they 
but the German people themselves, for no peace, no matter 
when it may come nor what may be its terms, can ever make 
of Germany ''a fit partner for a league of honor" until the 
German people have driven out the spirit which inspired 
these utterances made in their name. 



There has been no dearth of material for this collection. 
The compilers collected three times as much as has been used 
and could find new passages of similar import as long as they 
had library facilities. It is hoped that this collection is 
sufficiently representative to convince the reader of the prev- 
alency of some of the more dangerous German conceptions. 
It is in some respects unique, for many passages reproduced 
have not been used before for this purpose, at least not in 
English. Not the least interesting of them are the quota- 
tions from the Social-Democratic leaders in the Reichstag, 
who, before the war, stated the case against the German 
Government quite as plainly as it has been stated by the out- 
side world since then. 

It goes without saying that the compilers have availed 
themselves of other collections, notably of the four volumes 
of Andler's Pan-Germanism, of that scholarly compilation, 
Germany's War Mania, of William Archer's carefuUy edited 
Gems of German Thought, of Bang's Hurrah and Hallelujah, 
and of that little known but excellent anonymous work, 
The Pan-Germanic Doctrine. A collection recently made 
in this country. Out of Their Own Mouths, came to hand too 
late to use. The two collections, however, of which most 
use has been made are Nippold's Der Deutsche Chauvinismus, 
a collection of jingo utterances compiled by a German 
professor at Jena before the war (see p. 137), and Grumbach's 
Das Annexionistische Deutschland (see p. 147). 



FOEEWOED. 7 

The compilers have tried as far as possible to get back to 
originals, although helping themselves freely, to translations 
they could verify. Other collections are acknowledged only 
where original citations coidd not be given. It is hoped 
that all citations are accurate and all passages correctly 
transcribed. We have to acknowledge the help received 
from the Mimiesota, Harvard, Yale, and Columbia libraries, 
as well as from the Library of Congress. The rich collection 
of the New York Public Library has been of the greatest 
help. 

Some pains and space have been used to include contexts, 
and to see that words were not wrested from their meanings. 
It goes without saying that the most quotable passages have 
been taken. But it may be added that there are scores of 
German works where, though a brief quotable passage could 
not be found, the whole teaching is the necessity of aggression 
against other peoples. 

The German writers whom the compilers have read have 
sought again and again to fan the flame of German hatred by 
quoting English utterances of a similar character, three Eng- 
lish utterances in all, and only one of them comparable to the 
passages in this collection. Of French jingoistic utterances 
German writers have much to say and little to quote. They 
talk with greater vagueness of the ambitions of America. It 
is the unenviable distinction of the small dynastic, feudal, 
capitalistic, and intellectual groups in Germany^ to which 
these ideas owe their origin, that they have made them 
nation wide, systematic, and dominant. 

Professors Notestein and StoU, to whose labors and scholar- 
ship the form and content of this collection are due, desire to 
acknowledge the aid they have had in the work of collection, 
translation, and annotation from Professors William Ander- 
son, Rupert Lodge, and Dr. Mason Tyler, of the University 
of Minnesota; Dr. James Wallace, of St. Paul; Professors 
D. C. Munro, of Princeton; George C. Sellery, of the Univer- 
sity of Wisconsin; C. H. Hull, of Cornell; and Guernsey 
Jones, of the University of Nebraska. 

Guy Stanton Ford. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Page. 

I . The Mission of Germany. 11 

II. V/orld Power or Downfall. 19 

III. The Worship of Power 31 

IV. War as a Part of the Divine Order 34 

V. War as the Sole Arbiter 41 

VI. Economic Necessity of Expansion 51 

VII. Germany the Ruler of Middle Europe 56 

VIII. Expansion to the Southeast 67 

IX. Subordination of France 72 

X. Sea Power and Colonial Expansion 77 

XI. The Lost Teutonic Tribes 81 

XII. Dispossessing the Conquered 87 

XIII. The Pan-German Party 92 

XIV. Pan-Germanism and America 102 

XV. Pretexts for War 113 

XVI. The Comxing War. 119 

XVII. The Program of Annexations 147 

Map — Why Germany Wants Peace 171 



KEY TO REFERENCES. 



[A.] Andler, Pan-Germanism, 1915. Translation of the pamphlet 

edition. 
[Archer]. .Archer, Gems (?) of German Thought, 1917. . 
[B .]...... . Bang, Hurrah, and Hallelujah, 1917. 

[G.] . . . . . . .Grumbach, Das Annexionistische Deutschland, 1917. 

[G.W.M.]. Germany's War Mania, 1914. 

]N.] Nippold, Der deutsche Chauvinismus, 1913. 

[P. G. D.j.The Pan-Germanic Doctrine, 1904. 

9 



^^And they JlgJit, not simply hecause they are forced to, hut 
because, curiously enough, they delieve much of their talk. 
That is one of the dangers of the Germans to which the world 
is exposed; they really believe much of what they say J' 

Vernon Kellogg in Atlantic Monthly, August, 1917. 

10 



CONQUEST AND KULTUE, 



SECTION I. 

THE MISSION OF GERMANY. 



We a.re tlie salt of the earth." 

Kaiser's speech, Bremen, March 22, 1905, Christian Gauss, The 
German Emperor as Shown in His Public Utterances, 1915, p. 239. 



''If yoii ask me 'How saall I build up the Kiiigdom of God ? ' 
my answer is: Be a good G-erman. Stand fast by the Father- 
land. Do your duty and fulfill your mission. Seek to sub- 
merge yourself in German spirit, in German mind. Be Ger- 
man in piety and will, which simply means be true, faithful, 
and valiant. Help as best you can toward our victory; 
help to make our Fatherland grow and wax mighty.' ' 
Protestantenblatt, No. 13, 1915. [B., p. 134.] 



'^ Germany's -mission in history is to rejuvenate the ex- 
hausted members of Europe by a diffusion of Germanic 
blood." 

The School and the Fatherland, a manual for school children. 
Vergnet. France in Danger (1913), trans., 1915, p. 9. 



''We Germans have a far greater and more urgent duty 
toward civilization to perform than the great Asiatic power. 
* * * Yfe "^ * * can only fulfill it by the sword." 

F. von Bernhardi, Germany and the Next War (1911), trans. 1914, 
p. 258. 

General Bernhardi is a German cavalry general who, after his retirement, 
turned to writing. Germans claim that his books had little circulation. His 
' ' Deutschland und der niichste Krieg, ' ' however, had gone into its sixth edi- 
tion by February, 1913. Die Post, reviewing it in 1912, said that it "engaged 
the serious attention of our own political and — ^it need hardly be added — 
military circles. The great length of liis book and its consequent high 

11 



12 COiS^QUEST AXD KULTUK. 

price prevented it from becoming a really popular book; but it was meant 
to be a book for the people." The book has frequently been referred to in 
the Reichstag debates and in the newspapers. There can be no doubt that 
Bernhardi expressed the feeling of a large part of the influential classes in 
Germany. 



"Cease the pitiful attempts to excuse Germany's aetion. No 
longer wail to strangers, who do not care to hear you, tell- 
ing them how dear to us were the smiles of peace we had 
smeared like rouge upon our lips and how deeply we regret 
in our hearts that the treachery of conspirators dragged 
us unwilhngly into a forced war. * * * That national 
selfishness does not seem a duty to you, but a sin, is 
something you must conceal from foreign eyes. * * * 
IJ'ot as weak-willed blunderers have we undertaken the fear- 
ful risk of this war. We wanted it. Because we had to 
wish it and could wish it. May the Teuton devil throttle 
those whiners whose pleas for excuses make us ludicrous in 
these hours of lofty experience. We do not stand, and shall 
not place ourselves, before the court of Europe. Germany 
strikes. If it conquers new realms for its genius the priest- 
hood of all the gods will sing songs of praise to the good 
war. * * * We are waging this war not in order to 
punish those who have sinned, nor in order to free enslaved 
peoples and thereafter to comfort ourselves with the un- 
selfish and useless consciousness of our own righteousness. 
We wage it from the lofty point of view and with the con- 
viction that Germany, as a result of her achievements and 
in proportion to them, is justified in asking and m^ust obtain 
wider room on earth for development and for working out 
the possibilities that are in her. The powers from whom 
she forced her ascendancy, in spite of themselves, still live 
and some of them have recovered from the weakening she 
gave them. * * * "Now strikes the hour of G-ermany's rising 
power. 

Not only for the territories that are to feed their children 
and grandchildren is this warrior host now battling, but also 
for the conquering triumph of the G-erman genius * * *. 
K'ow we knov7 v/hat the war is for: Not for French, Polish, 
Ruthenian, Lettish territories; not for bilKons of money; 
not in order to dive headlong after the war into the pool of 



COXQUEST AXD KULTUS, 13 

emotions and then allovf tlie chilled body to rust in the twi- 
light dust of the Deliverer of Races. No ! To hoist the storm 
fiag of tlie Empire on the narrow channel that opens and locks 
the road into the ocean." 

Translation from Maximiiian Harden in 'New York Times. Dec. 
6, 1914. Harden is a German free lance, editor of Die Zukunf t. He 
says in a keen and incisive manner what many Germans are think- 



'^Its [the war] meaning and aim is the unincatio-n and 
purification of Germany in order that it may be quahfied for 
its historical task, to be the hea,rt of Europe and to prepare for 
a reahzation of the hopes of Em^opean humanity. We are 
fighting the fight of light against darkness. We are not all 
good, but om' will is bent toward the good. And to the 
upright of spirit God will allot success.'' Tliis was his main 
idea as to the purpose of the war, and it was as if one could 
hear the clear voices of children singing: "0 G-ermany, high 
in honor, thou holy land of faith!" 

The Kaiser as reported by A. Fendrich, Mit dem Auto an der Front, 
1915, pp. 142-143. 



^"The more it [German kultur] remains faithful to itself, 
the better will it be able to enlighten the understanding of 
foreign races absorbed or incorporated into the Empire, and 
to make them see that only from German kultur can they 
derive those treasures which they need for the fertilizing of 
their own particular life [x4jid vv^hat glorious results will 
not victory bring to Germany herseK?] * * * A vic- 
torious peace mil mean the release of world-conquering 
energy for our industrial life * ^5^ * the losses suffered 
in the war, v\"hatever they may come to, shall be made up, 
* * * the black-white-and-red flag shall wave over all 
seas, our countrymen ^vill hold highly respected posts in all 
parts of the world, and we will maintain and extend our 
colonies. The whole world shall stand open to us, so that, 
in untrammelled rivalry we shall unfold the energy of the 
German nature." 

Otto von Gierke, "War and Culture," in Deutsche Reden in 
Schwerer Zeit (1914). I, 93-96. The author is a most distin- 
guished professor of law in the University of Berlin. 



14 CONQUEST AN"D KULTUE, 

"For we are proud of it [G-erman kultur] and knov/ wliat it 
means for mankind. When our fatherland lay shattered on 
the ground Johann Gottheb Fichte in his memorable 
Addresses to the German People, here in Berlin more than 
a hundred years ago, held up the Germans as the one people 
in Europe which had preserved its original racial purity and 
as a result its capability of taking on culture; and he found 
the transition from its former spirit of cosmopohtanism to 
flaming national enthusiasm in the thought that as this 
people is called to be the minister of universal culture it is 
in duty bound to preserve itself. And a half century later 
(1861), in the midst of the twihght which preceded our great 
dawn, Emanuel Geibel closed his fine poem, Germany's 
Mission, with the prophetic lines: 

And German culture may bring healing to the nations. 
^^So think we. So may it come to pass." 

Idem., 99-100. 
Since the time of Fichte the Germans have clung with growing pride 
to this notion that they are an original, uncontaminated race. This concep- 
tion readily united with their philosophical and mystical conception of the 
State — or rather the Prussian or German State — not as a piece of machinery 
(after the American fashion, say, or the English) but as something living, 
almost divine. From this point of view it was only a step to the conception 
that they were a chosen people . They were chosen to create a new type of 
culture, they think, and impose it even on an unwilling world. 



[Speaking of Belgium] ''The destinies of the immortal 
great nations stand so high that they can not but have the 
right in case of need to stride over existences that can not 
defend themselves but support themselves shamelessly upon 
the rivalries of the great." 

Hermann Oncken (Heidelberg), Suddeutsche Monatshefte, Sep- 
tember, 1914. Oncken is an eminent professor of modern history 
at Heidelberg. 



''We feel ourselves to be the bearers of a superior kultur. 
We have no doubt that a defeat of our people would 
retard by centuries the development of mankind. On the 
other hand, we hope, by the victory of our arms, to bring 
about a new efflorescence o"f humanity through the German 



CONQUEST AND KULTUK. 15 

r-atiire, which will thus prove itself fruitful of blessings for 
other nations as welL'^ 

Dr. Paul Conrad, Stark in dem Herrn, 1915, p. 41. Dr. Conrad 
is pastor of the Kaiser Wiilielm Memorial Churcli in Berlin. 



'^Germany is novv^ about to become, mental!}^ and morally, 
the first nation in the world. Tlie German nation leads in 
the domains of kultur, science, intelligence, morality, art, 
and religion, in the entire domain of the inner life. * * * 
The world shall once again be healed by the German spirit; 
that shall be no empty phrase for us. All the deep things — 
courage, patriotism, faithfulness, moral purity, conscience, 
the sense of duty, activity on a moral basis, inward riches, 
intellect, industry, and so forth — no other nation possesses 
all these things in such high perfection as we do. And 
because it is so, because Germany is the leader in the entire 
domain of intellect, character, and son! — and in the end the 
world's judgment depends on these — because Germany is 
thus more and more becoming the center of the w^orld, 
therefore our neighbors look upon it askance and with envy. 
Thus this war is a war of envy and jealousy of Germany's 
leadership. It is a fight of hounds against a noble quarry." 

Pastor W. Lehmann, Vom deutsclien Gott, 1915. Sermon, August 
9. [B.,73, 74.] 



^'Take heed that ye be counted amongst the blessed, who 
shov\^ declining England, corrupt Belgium, licentious France, 
uncouth Eussia, the unconquerable youthful power and man- 
hood of the German people in a m^anner never to be forgotten. 
* * * Brethren, make an end of this generation of vipers 
w^ith German blow^s and German thrusts." 

Pastor J. Rump, Kriegsbetstunden, 1914, II, 75. 



''We have become a nation of wrath; we think only of the 
war. * * * We execute God Almighty's v/ill, and the 
edicts of His Justice we will fulfill, imbued with holy rage, 
in vengeance upon the ungodly. God calls us to murderous 
battles, even if worlds should thereby fall to ruins. -'H * * 



16 CONQUEST AISTD KULTUE. 

We are woven together like tlie chastening lash of war; 
we flame aloft like the lightning; like gardens of roses our 
wounds blossom at the gate of HeaYen. We thank Thee, 
Lord God. Thy wrathful call obliterates our sinful nature; 
with Thine iron rod we smite all our enemies in the face. 

Poem by Fritz Philippi. [B., pp. 54-55.] 



'Tichte was right in calling us the people of the soul. 
* * * [In the sense that] the depth of feehng common to 
us Germans has become a power controlling our activity and 
permeating our history, to a degree unknown to any other 
people. In this sense we have a right to say that we form 
the soul of humanity, and that the destruction of the Grerman 
nature would rob world-history of its deepest meaning." 

Professor R. Eucken, Die weltgeschichtliche Bedeutung des 
deutschen Geistes, 1914, p. 23. Eucken is professor of philosophy at 
Jena. He is perhaps best known in this country as the author of 
*'Can We Still be Christians?" 



'^In the midst of the world war Germany lies like a peaceful 
garden of God behind the waU of her armies. , Then the poet 
hears the giant strides of the new armor-clad Germany; the 
earth trembles, the nations shriek, the old era sinks into 
ruin. Formerly German thought was shut up in her comer 
but now the world shall have its coat cut according to 
German measure, and as far as our swords flash and German 
blood flows the circle of the earth shall come under the 
tutelage of German activity." 

Poem by Fritz Philippi, entitled ''World-Germany." [B., p. 47.] 



*^ There are races which are incapable of attaining a high 
humanity, incapable of influencing the world. Such nations 
are destined to hew wood and draw water for dominant na- 
tions. If they can not fiU this inferior office, they must 
perish. 

^' To a far greater extent than the French and English — 
races continually talking of freedom — we Germans have 
made such progress in social equahzation that we may con- 
sider ourselves far beyond the Romans; and this in spite of 
the hostile Western powers. 



COITQUEST AIsTD KULTUK. l7 

" We notice with anger and horror how the British Nation 
in its entirety has shown itself false, cruel, and criminal, 
just as the French have proved themselves in the treatment 
of their prisoners barbarians. 

'' I for my part am. convinced that the French are doomed 
to perdition, and I feel myself free of every emotion of regret. 
Politically France may still exist for centuries, but the nation 
is so dependent for its life on admixture that after the life 
of a few generations it will be no more.'' 

Professor Rudolph Huch, in Tagliclie Rundschau, of Berlin. 
Quoted by Professor R. L. Sanderson and by the Daily Chronicle, of 
London. [N. Y. Times, Feb. 28, Mar. 4, 1917.] 



^^The whole history of the world is neither more nor less 
than a preparation for the time when it shall please God to 
allow the affairs of the universe to be in German hands." 

From a speech hy "an educational authority in east Prussia." 
Quoted by the Dagens Nyheter [Swedish daily], July 21, 1917. 



"One can not rest neutral in relationsJiip to Gennany and 
tlie German people. EitJier one must consider Germany as 
the most perfect political creation tJioJ history has Icnown, or 
must approve her destruction, her extermination. A man who 
is not a German hnows nothing of Germany. We are morally 
and intellectuoJly superior to all, ivitliout peers. It is the 
same with our organizations and with our institutions J ^ 

<^ 'i^ ^ ^ 'I* 

"The E'uropean conspiracy has woven around us a weh of 
lies and slander. As for us we are trutJiful, our characteristics 

are humanity, gentleness, conscientiousness, the virtues of Christ. 
In a vjorld of wiclcedness we represent love and God is with us/'' 

Adolf Lasson, in two letters to a friend in Holland September, 
1914. Bernadotte Schmitt, England and Germany, 1916, pp. 93-94. 
Lasson is a distinguished professor of philosophy in the University 
of Berlin. See also New York Times, October 29, 1914. 

12726^—17 2 



18 CON- QUEST AND KULTUK. 

'^Not to live and let live, but to live and direct the lives 
of others, that is power. To bring peoples under our rational 
influence in order to put their affairs on a better footing, that 
is more glorious power." 

Dr. Carl Peters, Not und Weg, 1915, pp. 13-14 [G. p. 343]. Dr. 
Peters is an eminent German traveler and writer on colonial mat- 
ters, one of the founders of the Pan-German League, and an ardent 
advocate of colonial expansion. 

Passages such as the above serve to answer Friedrich Naumann's 
naive inquiry, "T\Tiy is it that we Germans of the Empire are 
during this war so Uttle liked by the rest of the world?" 



SECTIO.N II. 
WORLD POWER OR DOWNFALL. 



" Now, people of Germany ^ ye sJiatl he masters of Europe. 
(Nun deutsches Yolk wirst du Europa's Meister.) 

The German poet, Hermann Stehr, in the first number of the 
Neue Rimdschau after the war broke out, 1914, p. 1186. 



^^Our next war will be fought for the highest interests of 
our country and of mankind. This wiR invest it with 
importance in the world's history. 'World power or down- 
fall ! ' will be our rallying cry. 

'^Keeping this idea before us, we must prepare for war 
with the confident intention of conquering and with the 
iron resolve to persevere to the end, come what may.-' 

F. von Bernhardi, Gennany and the Next War (1911), trans., 
1914, p. 154. 

'^Neither ridiculous shriekings for revenge by French 
chauvinists, nor the Englishmen's gnasliing of teeth, nor the 
wild gestures of the Slavs will turn us from our aim of pro- 
tecting and extending Deutschtum (German influence) all 
the world over." 

Inclosure to letter No. 2, M. Etienne, minister of war, to M. 
Jonnart, minister for foreign affairs, Paris, Apr. 2, 1913. The French 
Yellow Book. From a Memorandum on the strengthening of the 
German Army, Berlin, Mar. 19, 1913, an ofiicial secret report, which 
fell into the hands of the French minister of war. 



^' Our fathers have left us much to do. The German people 
is so situated in Europe that it needs only to run and take 
whatever it requires. The German people finds itself to-day 
in a plight similar to that of Prussia at the accession of 
Frederick the Great, who raised his country to the status 

19 



20 CON-QUEST AND KULTTJE. 

of a European power. To-day it is for Germany to rise 
from a European to a world power. 

* * * ^^ Public policy prompted by the emotions [6^6- 
fuhlspolitilc] is stupidity. Humanitarian dreams are im- 
becility. Diplomatic cbarity begins at home. Statesman- 
ship is business. Right and wrong are notions indispensable 
in private life. The G-erman people are always right because 
they number 87,000,000 souls. Our fathers have left us 
much to do." 

Tannenberg, Gross-DeutscMand: die Arbeit des 20ten Jahrhun- 
derts, 1911, pp. 230-231. Tannenberg is probably a pseudonym. 
This work has been called "fantastic" by one Pan-German. It 
was mor^ extreme than many of the Pan-German works only be- 
cause it embodied all the various schemes of aggression. 



"We are indubitably the most martial nation in the world. 

For two centuries German vigor upheld the decadent Roman 
Empire. Only Germans were able to combat the primitive 
might of Germans. In seven battles of the nations, in the 
forest of Teutoburg, in the Catalonian plains, at Tours, and 
at Poitiers, on the Lechfeld near Liegnitz, before Vienna 
against the Turks, and at Waterloo ^ we saved the civiliza- 
tion (Gesittung) of Europe. 

^^ We are the most gifted of nations in all the domains of 
science and arto We are the best colonists, the best sailors, 
and even the best traders! And yet we have not up to now 
secured our due share in the heritage of the world, because 
we will not learn to draw salutary lessons from history. 
* * * That the German Empire is not the end but the 
beginning of our national development is an obvious truth 
which as yet is by no means the common property of Ger- 
mans. It is recognized only by a few cultivated men." 

Fritz Bley, Die Weltstellung des Deutschtums, 1897, pp. 21-22. 
Bley is editor of the ' ' Zeit-Fragen " of Berlin. He has had experi- 
ence in German colonial government. 



^' JNo more to be called the people of poets and thinkers in 
the contemptuous sense in which foreigners have given us 
the name — as if a timid tribe of irresolute dreamers, caught 

1 The Germans claim the honors in this battle for themselves. 



cois^QUEST a:n^d kultue. 21 

in the cobwebs of our brains — but to be again what our 
ancestors were, a people of deeds, that is the thought which 
thrills through all our more recent popular verse. 

We are of the race of the Thunderer; 
We will possess the earth ; 
That is the old right of the Germans — 
To win land T\dth the hammer. 

'' This right of the Germans arises, let it be said once more, 
out of German civilization, the best on earth. * * * For- 
ward, then, into the fight for German aims and ' far as the 
hammer is hurled let the earth be ours.' " 

Idem, pp. 27-29. 

" Our German Fatherland, [to] which I hope it will be granted, 
through the harmonious cooperation of princes and peoples, 
of its armies and its citizens, to become in the future as 
closely united, as powerful, and as authoritative as once the 
Eoman v/orld- empire was, and that, just as in the old times 
they said ^Civis romanus sum,^ hereafter, at som_e tim^e in 
the future, they will say 'I am a German citizen.' " 

Kaiser's speech, Imperial Limes Museum, Saalburg, October 11, 
1900. Gauss, p. 169." 



^^ But any political community not in a position to assert its 
native strength as against- any given group of neighbors v/ill 
ahvays be on the verge of losing its characteristics as a State. 
This has always been the case. Great changes in the art of war 
have destroyed num^berless States. It is because an army of 
20,000 men can only be reckoned to-day as a weak army corps 
that in the long" run the small States of central Europe can 
not maintain themselves." 

Treitschke, Politics (1897), trans., 1916, I, 32. Von Treitschke 
was one of the most influential of Germany's historical and political 
thinkers; "Our great national historian," the Kaiser has called 
him. His lectures at the University of Berlin Y/ere crowded with 
students, students destined to be the thinkers and leaders of Ger- 
many; his pronouncements on German policy in the Preussische 
Jahrbiicher determined opinion. He wrote history that glorifies the 
rise of Prussia, he acclaimed the union of Germany and the annex- 
ation of Alsace-Lorraine as he saw it realized through the Franco- 
Prussian War, he insisted upon the concentration of power in the 



22 COITQUEST AND KULTUE. 

German State, and on the dominant position of that state in Europe. 
He pinned his faith to the great state; its rights were paramount. 
Wars which molded separate fragments into one great political unit, 
even if wars of conquest, were justifiable. His works became cyclo- 
pedias of patriotism, and, because vigorously and entertainingly 
written, were and are widely read. Their aphorisms have become 
a part of German political scripture, their philosophy has been the 
textbook of German statesmen. Bernhardi quotes Treitschke with 
the same reverence with which he quotes Bismarck and Machiavelli. 



^^At the start the interests of commerce and of oversea 
politics go hand in hand; but it becomes a question which 
of the two will use the other for its ends. Whatever may 
happen, then, this is certain: Nationality, culture, world 
power, and the German Empire itself stand and fall together.^' 
Georg Fuchs, Der Kaiser, die Kuitur, und die Kunst, 1904, p. 65. 



'^ Your Royal Highness [Prince Ruprecht] has been able to 
convince himself how powerfully the wave beat of the ocean 
knocks at the door of our people and forces it to demand 
its place in the world as a great nation; drives it on, in short, 
to world politics, 

^'Germany's greatness makes it impossible for her to do 
without the ocean, but the ocean also proves that even in 
tlie distance, and on its farther side, without Germany and 
the German Emperor no great decision dare henceforth be 
taken. 

^^I do not believe that thirty years ago our German people, 
under the leadership of their princes, bled and conquered in 
order that they might be shoved aside when great decisions 
are to be made in foreign politics. If that could happen, the 
idea that the German people are to be considered as a world 
power would be dead and done for, and it is not my will 
that this should happen. To this end it is only my duty 
and my finest privilege to use the proper and, if need be, the 
most drastic means without fear of consequences. I am 
convinced that in this course I have the German princes and 
the German people firmly behind me." 

Kaiser's speech, Kiel, July 3, 1900. Gauss, pp. 162, 163, 



co:n'quest and kultuk. 23 

''We must not forget tJiat, fighting and conquering, we must 
on to the ever distant pinnacle or down into the ahyss. In 
the crush and scramble of the peoples there is no standing 
still. The face of the earth is ever changing, * * * 
Peoples which once proudly sailed the high seas now only 
hug the shores, soon to disappear." 

Klaus Wagner, Kiieg, 1906, pp. 248-49. Klaus Wagner is a Bava- 
rian magistrate. His ^mtings have been much used by the news- 
papers. 



''Aie we again on the point of a^new partition of the 
earth; as the poet dreamed a hundred years ago ? I believe 
not. I do not paiticularly wish to believe it. But at the 
same time we can not suffer any foreign power whatsoever — • 
any strange Jupiter — to say to us^ 'What are you going 
to do about it ? All the room in the world has been taken! ' 
We do not want to walk too close to any other pov/er, 
neither do we want any other power to trample on us, and 
we are unwilling to be shoved aside by any foreign power 
whether in a political or in an economic sphere." 

Yon Bxilow, in the Reichstag, December 11, 1899, Reden, 1907, 
I, p. 90. Von Bulow was Minister of Foreign Affairs 1897-1900, 
Chancellor 1900-09. 



Like all nations with interests at sea, we are by our need 
of coaling privileges — a need most clearly indicated at the 
time of the Spanish-American War and like other needs at 
the time of the Spanish-American War written large — ^we 
are, I say, driven to the acquisition of bases and stations. 
* * * 'pj^Q range and extent of our oversea interests — ■ 
here lies the kernel of the question— have been developed 
much more rapidly and much more intensively than the 
material means for protecting and advancing those interests, 
as this becomes necessary. If ever the course of world history 
hastened to hestow upon an undertaJcing what I might call the 
historical seal of approval, tlien this was the case when, directly 
after the voting of the naval hudget, first the Spanish- American 
^Var, then the disturoances in Samoa, and then the war in South 
Africa put our oversea interests at such different points in serious 



24 CONQUEST AISTD KULTUE. 

embarrassment, and fate proved it all before our eyes. You 
will understand, gentlemen, tJiat in my official and responsible 
position I can not say mucJi, and tJiai I can not dot all my i^s. 
You ivill all understand me if I say tJiat fate showed us at 
more than one point on this globe how urgently necessary 
was the increase of our navy which toolc place two years ago, 
and hovj wise and patriotic it was of this high assemMy to 
assent to the Government bill of that time [1898]J^ 

Von Billow, in the Reichstag, December 11, 1899, Reden, 1907, 
I, 92-94. This address was delivered before the Reichstag upon the 
introduction of the second naval bill. It is easy to imagine what Von 
Btilow would have said had he been dotting all his i's. He would 
have told the Reichstag that, had Germany possessed a navy large 
enough America would not have been allowed to aid Cuba and ac- 
quire the Philippines. It will be recalled how reluctantly Admiral 
von Diedrichs kept hands off at Manila. The agreement with the 
United States concerning the partition of the Samoan Islands was 
made nine days before the delivery of this speech. It had been a 
distinct disappointment to the German jingoes. 



"Gentlemeii, in spite of our old histor j, we are the youngest 
nation among the peoples of western Europe. We have 
come late, very late into the arena, Now that we have 
come, there is need of haste. 

Von Billow in the Reichstag, November 19, 1908. Von Billow's 
Reden, 1907-1909, III, pp. 142-143. 



^'A timorous people, which knows not how to use its elbows, 
may of course put a stop to the increase in its population — 
it njight find things too narrow at home. The superfluity of 
population might find no economic existence. A people 
happy in its future, however, knows nothing of an artificial 
limitation; its only care can be to find room on the globe 
for a livelihood for other members of its own race." 

Arthm* Dix, Deutschland auf den Hochstrassen des Weltwirt- 
schaftsverkehrs, 1901, p. 28. Dix, like other German writers on for- 
eign policy and economics, laments that the mouths of the Rhine 
and the Danube, ''German rivers," are in foreign territory (pp. 32, 
33). The Danube, flowing east, seems to him to beckon German 
influence on, not only into eastern Europe but to Asia. 



CONQUEST AND KULTUR. 25 

Dix is editor of the "Deutsche Bote" and the "Weltpolitik," two 
journals of Berlin. In internal politics he is a National Liberal, and 
he bases his arguments on the fact that imperialism will benefit the 
working: classes. 



"But can such, a state of things continue forever ? Can a 
great and rapidly increasing people like the Germans for- 
ever forego further progress and a further extension of its 
political power? Can we be satisfied forever with our 
present scanty colonies and with our endangered position 
in the center of Europe ? Is it right for us to run the risk 
that the increase of our population may be lost again to 
our own country, as it used to be in former years, and 
perhaps serve to enhance the power of those States which 
are hostile to us ? Is it not our duty to open up new spheres 
of work which further the interests of our fatherland, to all 
those intellectual forces of which there is a surplus in Ger- 
many, forces which so often strive in vain to find an outlet 
for their energy ? 

" It is not only our sacred duty as a nation to strive for the 
reahzation and accomplishment of all these purposes, but it 
wiU soon be found to be a necessity vfhich will assert itself 
with elemental force« We shall then be compelled by the 
pressure exerted by the national will to exchange the pohcy 
of resignation and renunciation to which we have adhered 
all these years for a policy pursuing positive aims — the 
strengthening of our position in the center of Europe; the 
final reckoning with France and England; the extension of 
our colonial possessions, in order to find new dwelling places 
under the German flag for the surplus of our population; 
the vigorous protection of Germans abroad; the acquisition 
of stations for our navy; the further development of our 
effective forces in proportion to the increase of the forces 
of our enemies. These are the tasks which we shall have 
to face in the near future." 

Die Post, April 25, 1913. [N., p. 14.] 



"We might say that the hostile arrogance of the western 
powers releases us from all our treaty obhgations, throws 
open the doors of our verbal prison house, and forces the 



26 CONQUEST AND KULTUE. 

German Empire, resolutely defending her vital rights, to 
revive the ancient Prussian policy of conquest. * * * 

"All Morocco in the hands of Germany; German cannon 
on the routes to Egypt and India; German troops on the 
Algerian frontier; this would he a goal worthy of great 
sacrifices. * * * 

^^When we can put 5,000,000 German soldiers into the field 
we shall be able to dictate to France the conditions upon 
which she may preserve the empire of northern Africa — 
^New France' — ^with her brown Algerian troops. * * * 
We have entered upon a struggle in which the stake is 
the power and future of the German Empire." 

Maximilian Harden, Zukunft, July 29, 1911, p. 151. Here is the 
principle of the ''scrap of paper," before the phrase. It is an old 
Prussian principle. The Great Frederick when he marched into Silesia 
cried, "I take first; I shall always find pedants enough to explain 
the matter afterwards." "When Prussia's power is in question," 
said Bismarck, "I know no law." "All treaties," wrote Treitschke, 
the Prussian political theorist, "are concluded on the tacit under- 
standing rebus sic stantibus [until conditions change] (New York, 
1916, vol. II, p. 596). That is, to quote Hegel, Treitschke's great 
teacher, "the fundamental proposition of international law remains 
a good intention, while in the actual situation the relation estab- 
lished by the treaty is being continually shifted or abrogated." 
With the spirit of these words Prussian policy has generally been 
in accord. 



"The war which seems approaching will decide our whole 
future. As far as we are concerned, the question is whether 
we are to maintain our present position in the political 
world and become a world power or whether we are to be 
pushed back and become a purely continental state of sec- 
ond rank. I trust that every German may bear that alter- 
native in mind, and that it may be quite clear to our Govern- 
ment how much is at stake. All other considerations must 
recede into the- background when the will to power and to 
victory is concerned. Every individual German ought to be 
governed by the determination to win that victory, no mat- 
ter how difficult this may prove to be. 

From an article by General Bemhardi on "Unsere Zukunft" in 
Hannoversches Tageblatt, Dec. 28, 1912. [N., pp. 98-99.] 



CON'QUEST AND KULTUE. 27 

'^ If a permanent understanding [between England and Ger- 
many] is to be reached; Germany's interests must be safe- 
guarded in every respect. * * * 

"England v/ould have to grant us an absolutely free hand in 
the domain of European politics and would have to ap- 
prove in advance any increase of Germany's power on 
the Continent, as, for example, by a central European fed- 
eration or by a war against France. She would have to 
cease throwing diplomatic obstacles in our way when we 
are engaged in the extension of our colonial policy, so long 
as we do not seek to further it at her expense. She would 
have to consent to any territorial readjustments in north 
Africa in favor of Italy and Germ^any. She v/ould have to 
pledge her word not to obstruct Austria's interests in the 
Balkans nor to thwart Germany's economic aspirations in 
western Asia, and she would have to make up her mind to 
refrain from opposing, as she has done hitherto, the expansion 
of our naval power and the acquisition of coaling stations 
by the German Empire." 

General von Bernhardi in Die Post, Dec. 23, 1912. [N., pp. 
97-98.] 

^^So be it, and when the German Emperor is crowned with 
victory, then what he promised us in his youthful days will 
stand forth as a great accomplished fact. ^ I am leading you 
to days of glory. ^ Let us forget all our discontent of former 
times, and let us thank our fate, which has guided us through 
darkness into light. Henceforth the German shall he the 
proudest OMd lest man on earth — that is the only spirit which 
is v/orthy of the great times in which it has been granted us 
to see and to create." 

Karl von Winterstetten, Nordkap-Bagdad, das politische Programm 
des Kriegs, 1914, p. 40. Winterstetten is a pseudonym for Dr. 
Albrecht Ritter. His pamphlet Berlin-Bagdad: Neue Ziele, etc., 
has gone through 14 editions. 



" From this it appears that, for Germany, this war i s the 
decisive step toward a real world policy, which she was com- 
pelled to take because the Triple Entente, that syndicate of 
great land monopolists, prevented her from peaceful expan- 



28 COITQUEST AND KULTTJE. 

sion, from obtaining the elbow room which she requires by 
peaceful means. We must therefore look upon this war as 
necessary for two reasons — it is not only a question of finally 
repelling the advance of Pan-Slavism, hut also of opening up 
a vjay for the German people to ascend to the ranTc of a world 
power. 'How can we obtain this second object of the war9^'^ 

Karl von Winterstetten, Nordkap-Bagdad, das politische Pro- 
gramm des Kriegs, 1914, p. 17. 



"We await in complete unity, calm determination^ and 
confidence in God the hour that will render possible peace 
negotiations whereby the mihtary, economic, financial^ and 
political interests of the German Empire in all its extent, 
including the extension of territory which is necessary for 
all this, are secure forever." 

Dr. Spahn, former leader of the Centre Party, in the Reichstag, 
December 8 or 9, 1915. [London Times, Dec. 11, 1915.] The Cen- 
tre (the Clericals) is the largest party in the Reichstag. Under the 
leadership of Erzberger it very recently (July, 1917) declared against 
the policy of annexation, though not unanimously. 



"It is on the soil of Europe which has been fertiUzed by 
blood that there is growing up for us a German crop, and 
we shall still the tears of those who have given their dear 
ones if we can say to them : ^ Thy son, thy husband has fallen 
for this greater and stronger Germany — bloody sacrifices have 
been offered, and more will fall; they must provide the foun- 
dation for a territorial expansion of our country, for bounda- 
ries in the East and West which will secure us peace for a 
generation.'" 

The Deutsche Kurier of Aug. 4, 1915 [G. pp. 76-77.] 



''We know it; the German eagle will victoriously unfold 
his pinions and ascend to a prouder height than ever. And 
we shall also know how to keep a firm hold for all time 
to come on the countries which are fertilized with German 
blood. Our ardent love for our German Fatherland makes 
us strong to make the greatest sacrifices. But let us there- 



CONQUEST AND KULTUR. 29 

fore also Iceep a firm hold on wJiat tve Jiave won, and acquire 
in addition what we need. Beyond bloody war is splendid 
victory — let that be tbe watchword of this great time." 

Deputy Bassermann at a farewell gathering of the National Liberal 

Party, of the Central Committee of which he was president, quoted 

in Vorwarts, December 5, 1914. 



^^In reality our imperialists are seeking to achieve some- 
thing quite different. They also know, even if they do not 
say so to the stupid people (and Bernhardi's book proves 
that this is so) that we have indeed the place in the sun, that 
no one seeks to dispute it, and that if anyone were to seek 
to do so, he would necessarily fail. But it is something else 
that they want. They want tlie exclusive place in the sun; 
they are striving for the world dominion of Germany , and that 
at any rate, is what the others are not prepared to yield to 
them. 

''The German Defense Association ^ (Wehrverein) has quite 
recently expressed this with all the lucidity that can be 
desired. In this manifesto we find the following words: 
' We need room and air for the further development of our 
German nationality. The time for moderation is past. Ke- 
lentlessly thinking only of our interests, we must and we 
will dictate peace. Only one peace can be thought of, a 
peace which assures the permanent leading world position of 
Germa,ny. * * * The criminal breakers of the peace, 
England, France, and Russia, must be so weakened that in 
future they will cease to be a danger to the peace of the 
world.'" 

J' Accuse: by a German, 1915, p. 70. See note, pp. 141-42. 



For all who have eyes to see and a mind alive to the 
world around them the great war has made clear our true 
situation. We must insist on being a world power, or we 
cease to be a great power at all. There is no other alterna- 
tive. * * * Lg^ j^Q Qj^g here say that small States, 
too, can have a national life of their own. True, so long 
as the great States around them allow them to exist. But 
any day may see the end of their existence, in spite of 

i See pp. 97, 99. 



30 CONQUEST AK"D KULTUE. 

all treaties to the contrary, and every day brings us fresh 
evidence how little assured is the existence of small 
States. * * * Anyone who still retains belief in such things 
[treaties] is past all argument. A man who has not learned 
wisdom from the events of the last two years is incapable of 
learning anything. * * * We can not do without alliances, 
but we can only reckon upon them as promoting our own 
security so long as they are cemented by the greatest possible 
sense of common interest. Alliances by themselves are 
worthless. * * * 

If the war has done no more than awake the German 
people out of love's young dream — that is, out of its reliance 
on the good will and honest dealing of peoples and States — 
it will have done us a great service. There are no ethical 
friendships between States in our day. There are only 
friendships of convenience. And friendships of convenience 
last just so long as the convenience itself. 

''That is the sheet anchor of all foreign policy. What we 
desire for our future therefore is a strong, self-dependent 
Germany, strong enough to secure that Austria, Bulgaria, 
and Turkey shall find their greatest safety and prosperity 
through the German connection — and only through Ger- 
many." 

Die Zukunft Deutschlands, by Oberstudienrat Dr. Georg Kerschen- 
steiner, member of the Reichstag, in the Europaische Staats- und 
Wirtschaftszeitung, December 16, 1916. [Round Table, March, 1917.] 



"We have become a flourishing, powerful empire, blessed 
with material possessions, and we have now won the right 
with sword in hand to make even greater demands. * * * 
Ever forward must be our watchword in the struggle of the 
peoples. We stand on the great divide. World povjer for 
Greater Germany or downfall^ 

Benedikt Haag, Die Weltkommission Deutschlands im gegenwar- 
tigen europaischen Krieg, 1914, pp. 65-66. 



^' Our forceful 'policy gets what it wants. And to-morrow 
Europe will learn to admire us.^'^ 

Maximilian Harden in Die Zukunft, July 29, 1911, p. 149. 

1 This was written at the time of the Moroccan crisis. See pp. 120-21. 



SECTION III. 
THE WORSHIP OF POWER. 



^'To compel men to a state of right, to put them under the 
yoke of right by force, is not only the right but the sacred 
duty of every man who has the knowledge and the power. 
In case of need one single man lias tlie right and duty to 
compel the whole of mankind ; for to that which is contrary 
to right they have, as against him, no right and no freedom. 

^^He may compel them to right. For right is an idea, ab- 
solute, definite, of universal validity; an idea which they aU 
ought to have, and which they all wiU have as soon as they 
are raised to his level. This idea, in the meantime, he has 
in the name of them aU, as their representative, by virtue 
of the grace of God which works in him. The truth of this 
idea he m.ust take upon his own conscience. He is the mas- 
ter, armed with compulsion and appointed by God." 

Staatslehre: Fichte's Werke, 1845, I, iv, p. 436. Fichte (1762- 
1814), "the patriot philosopher," wrote the Addresses to tiie Ger- 
man People, which are very familiar to Germans to-day. He was 
an apostle of German unity. 



Life is essentially appropriatiGn, injury, conquest of the 
strange and weak, suppression, severity, obtrusion of its own 
forms, incorporation at the least, and in its mildest form 
exploitation. 

Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, section 259. Nietzsche (1844- 
1900) has been called the "prophet of the mailed fist." Really he 
was not a lover of Prussia and its ways, but his ethics were imbued 
with militarism. He preached the gospel of pride and might, and 
while his vivid ideas were cast in figures, there is no doubt that they 
have been as fuel to the militaristic flame. Every German student 
knows his Nietzsche. His phrase, "the will to power," has been 
. and is a catchword of many German political writers and statesmen. 

31 



32 CONQUEST AND KULTUE. 

''It is necessary, then, to choose between public and pri- 
vate morality, and, since the State is power, its duties must 
rank differently from those of the individual. Many which 
are incumbent upon him have no claim upon it. The injunc- 
tion to assert itself remains always absolute. Wealcness must 
always Ije condemned as the most disastrous and despicable of 
crimes, the unforgivable sin of politics J ^ 
Treitschke, Politics, 1916, I, pp. 94, 95. 



^' You must in ceaseless labor offer all the powers of body 
and soul to the building up and development of our troops, 
and, just as my grandfather labored for his land forces, so, 
undeterred, I shall carry through to its completion the work 
of reorganizing my navy in order that it may stand justified 
at the side of my army and that through it the German 
Empire w,ay also he in a position to win outwardly the place 
which she has not yet attained. 

^^ When both are umted I hope to be in a position, firmly 
trusting in the leadership of God, to carry into effect the 
saying of Frederick William I: 'If one wishes to decide 
anything in the world, it cannot be done with the pen unless 
the pen is supported by the force of the sword.' " 

From the Kaiser's speech, Jan. 1, 1900. Gauss, pp. 156-157. 



"By what right, then, do the States nowadays exist? 
War has given Prussia Silesia, Schles wig-Hoist ein, and 
Hanover — where did rights leave off and where might 
begin? Bid the German Confederation and the sovereign 
powers which formed it exist by right ? During the past 
25 years [before 1899] the European powers have divided up 
Africa amongst themselves — ^by what right? In the next 
century they will partition Asia — by what right? What 
could a court of arbitration do in this case, where there is no 
law? 

Hans Delbriick, Erinnerungen, Aufsatze, und Reden, 1902, p. 515. 
Delbriick is professor of history at the University of Berlin and 
editor of the Preussische Jahrbiicher. On foreign policies he is 
accounted a moderate and is one of the most influential German 
publicists. See note, p. 77, and note, p. 59. 



CONQUEST AXD KULTUE. 83 

^^I am going to pronounce a blessing on this war, the blessing 
which is on all lips, for we Germans, no matter in what part 
of the world we are, all bless, bless, and bless again this world 
war." 

Hermann Bahr, Kriegssegen 1915, p. 19. Baiir is a magazine 
writer, and stage manager of the Deutsches Theater in Berlin. 



'^ Hence when we saw the miracle of this mobilization — all 
Germany's military manhood packed in railway trains 
rolling through the land, day by day and night after night, 
never a minute late, and never a question for which the right 
answer was not ready and waiting * * * when we saw 
all this, we were not astonished, because it was no miracle; 
it was nothing other than a natural result of a thousand years 
of work and preparation ; it was the net profit of the whole of 
German history." 

Idem, pp. 22-23. 



^^ [The Prussian State] is indeed like the woolen shirt, which 
irritates but furnishes warmth; it was forced to assume 
rough and harsh characteristics, created by bitter necessity. 
In constant pitiless discipline and fulfillment of duty, the 
people and their princes became great; the State remained 
long deprived of all that makes life rich, joyous, and beau- 
tiful. The peculia^r marks of militarism which gave Prussia 
her individuality remain with her to-da.y, for the reason that 
the prerequisites for the existence of Germany as a State are 
more and more found to be the same as those which were 
once the deciding factors for Prussia.'' 

Dr. Wilhelm Solf, Secretary of State for the Colonies, in Modern 
Germany in Relation to the Great War, translated by W. W. White- 
lock, 1916. 

12726°— 17 3 



SECTION IV. 
WAR AS A PART OF THE DIVINE ORDER. 



" WTioever can not prevail upon Jiimself to approve from tJie 
hottom of Ms Jieart the sinJcing of tJie Lusitania, whoever can 
not conquer his sense of the gigantic cruelty to unnumhered 
perfectly innocent victims * * * and give himself up to 
honest delight at this victorious exploit of German defensive 
power — him we judge to he no true German J ^ 

Pastor B. Baumgarten, in the pamphlet series entitled ''Deutsche 
Reden in Schwerer Zeit," 1914-15. [Archer, p. 186.] 



'^ Ye shall love peace as a means to new wars, and tlie short 
peace better than the long. I do not advise you to work, 
but to fight. I do not advise you to compromise and make 
peace^ but to conquer. * * * Let your labor be fighting 
and your peace victory. You say that a good cause haliows 
even war. / tell you that a good war hallows every cause.' ^ 

Friedrich Nietzsche, Also Sprach Zarathustra, the chapter "Of 
Wars and Warriors." 



"But it is not worth while to speak further of these matters, 
for the God above us wiU see to it that war shall return again, 
a terrible medicine for mankind diseased.'' 
Treitschke, Politics, I, 69. 



"The biological importance of war is due to the progressive 
development of humanity. It is evident that its mental and 
moral force gives the victory to. a nation. That force can 
be found only among people possessed of a strong vitahty 
and of a progressive civilization. Progress makes for vic- 
tory. If it were not for war we should probably find that 
inferior and degenerated races would overcome healthy and 
youthful ones by their wealth and their numbers. The gen- 
34 



COXQUEST AND KULTUE. 35 

erative importance of war lies in this^ that it causes selection, 
and thus war becomes a biological necessity. It hecGmes an 
indispensable regulator, oecause witJiout vjar there could neitlicr 
he racial nor cultural progress J'' 

F. von Bernhardi, Britain as Germany's Vassal (1912), trans., 1914, 
pp. 110-111. The German title is llnseie Zukunit: ein Malm wort 
an das deutsche Volk. 



a* * H: ly^ Germans and Christians are also taught hy 
honor and duty that there can he no peace for the souls of the 
dead or the living until a conflict is settled hy the victory and 
triumph of our arms. * * * Pagan belief and Christian 
faith alike teach us that we should give our lives for our 
brothers, for our fatherland, for our Kaiser and his empire, for 
the victory of our arms, in order that there may be peace for 
the living and rest for the dead. Therefore war is the most 
sublime and most holy expression of human activity." 

Jungdeutschland-Post, a weekly paper for juA'enile readers, Jan. 
25, 1913. [N., p. 1.] 



*' War is the noblest and holiest expression of human activity. 
For us, too, the glad, great hour of battle will strike. Still 
and deep in the German heart must live the joy of battle and 
the longing for it. Let us ridicule to the utmost the old 
women in breeches who fear war and deplore it as cruel and 
revolting. No; war is beautiful. Its august sublimity ele- 
vates the human heart beyond the earthly and the common. 
In the cloud palace above sit the heroes, Frederick the Great, 
and Bliicher, and all the men of action — the Great Emperor, 
Moltke, Koon, Bismarck, are there as well, but not the old 
women who would take away our joy in war. When here on 
earth a battle is v/on by German arms and the faithful dead 
ascend to heaven, a Potsdam lance corporal will call the 
guard to the door and ^Old Fritz' [Frederick the Great], 
springing from his golden throne, will give the command to 
present arms. That is the heaven of Young Germany." 

Jung-Deutschland, official organ of Young Germany, October, 1913. 
[B., p. 212.] Such are the doctrines taught to yourg boys of about 
the same age as our Boy Scouts. 



36 CONQUEST AI^D KULTUE. 

'^ If the ' Twilight of the gods / which has been brooding so 
long over the European race and ^'kultur," is to disappear 
at last and to give way to the dawn of day, we Germans, 
above all others, must cease to look upon war as our de- 
stroyer. The enemies of our race have dinned this doctrine 
into our ears until we have almost come to believe it ourselves. 
We must hring ourselves at last to see in war our savior again, 
a physician who may not be able to deliver us from all the 
ills of body and mind, but without whom such relief is abso- 
lutely impossible of accomplishment." 

Tagliche Rundschau, Nov. 12, 1912. [N., p. 23.] 



^' It is the soldier and the army, not parliamentary majorities 
and votes, that have welded the German Empire together. 
My confidence rests upon the army." 

The German Emperor, in connection with laying the corner stone 
of a chm-ch in Berlin. [G. W. M., p. 93.] 



^'The most important heritage which my noble grand- 
father and father left me is the army, and I received it with 
pride and joy. To it I addressed the first decree when I 
mounted the throne. * * * And leaning upon it, trust- 
ing our old guard, I took up my heavy charge, knowing weU 
that the army was the main support of my country, the 
main support of the Prussian throne, to which the decision 
of God has called me." 

Speech of the Kaiser to the Royal Guard, 1898. Gauss, pp. 
121-23. 



"Because only in war all the virtues which militarism 
regards highly are given a chance to unfold, because only in 
war the truly heroic comes into play, for the realization of 
which on earth militarism is above all concerned; therefore 
it seems to us who are filled with the spirit of militarism 
that war is a holy thing, the holiest thing on earth ; and this 
high estimate of war in its turn makes an essential ingre- 
dient of the military spirit. There is nothing that trades- 
people complain of so much as that we regard it as holy." 

Werner Sombart, Handler und Helden, 1915, p. 88. Sombart is 

professor in the Handelshochschule in Berlin, and one of the leading 

German economists. 



COI^QUEST AKD KULTUK. 37 

^^One single JiigJily cultivated German warrior cf tJiose ivJio 
are, alas, falling in tJiousands represents a JiigJier intellectual 
and moral life value than Jiundreds of tJie raw cMldren of nature 
vjJiom England and France, Russia and Italy oppose to tJiem.^' 

Professor Haeckel (Jena), Ewigkeit: Weltlaiegsgedanken, p. 36. 
Haeckel is one of the best known zooloe-ists in the world. 



"What they call barbarism; history v/ill call primitive 
strength. ^ * * 

^^We proclaim — no, we do not proclaim, but it reveals 
itself — the religion of strength." 

Adolph Deissmann, Deutsche Reden in Schwerer Zeit, I, p. 305. 
Deissmann is a professor of New Testament exegesis in the Univer- 
sity of Berlin. 

"Must kultur rear its domes over mountains of corpses, 
oceans of tears, and the death rattle of the conquered? Yes; 
it must. * * H< 'j'jje might of the conqueror is the highest 
law before which the conquered must bow." 

Karl A. Kuhn (of Charlottenburg), Die wahren Ursachen des 
Kriegs, 1914, p. 11. 



" * * * TJiesliarper we malce our good sword, the laoTe 
obstinately we insist on our demands once they are made, 
and the more foreign nations see that a determined people 
stands behind our Government, tlie letter is tlie outloolc for 
the preservation of peace. That is apparent in the recent 
occurrences in the Balkans.^ Why did not Russia strike at 
Austria? Only because Germany stood firmly behind her 
ally. Then, let us raalce an end. of trying to huy peace hy toady- 
ing. It is of no use, and it lowers our standing abroad." 

W. Eisenhart, Deutschland Erwache!, 1913, pp. 51-52. The author 
proceeds to complain of the German's generosity in relieving the 
•\dctims of flood or famine in other countries, as another species of 
toadyism. There is need enough at home; and, besides, Germans get 
no thanks. In Norway, where the Kaiser and the Germans did much 
to relieve the distress incident to the biurdng of Alesund, the sum- 

1 This refers to the situation at the end of the first Balkan war when Austria insisted on the 
formation of an independent Albania out of a part of the territories won by the Balkan allies 
in order to shut Servia away from the sea and keep her dependent on Germany. Russia, 
supported by the liberal sentiment of Europe, protested, but Germany and Austria 
threatened war if their wishes were not carried out. 



38 COITQUEST AISTD KULTUK. 

mer resort much frequented by Germans, the English, he complains, 
are really more welcome. Throughout the book the author insists on 
the necessity of Germans being more German and more independent 
in attitude toward foreigners. In the last twenty years there has 
been much of this in German books, newspapers, and conversation. , 
Like Eisenhart, they complain in particular of the German giving 
up his language and customs when he travels or emigrates. 



'^On the contrary, an intense longing for a foremost place 
among tlie powers and for manly action fills our nation. 
Every vigorous utterance, every bold political step of the 
Government^ finds in the soul of the people a deeply felt echo, 
and loosens the bonds which fetter all their forces. In a 
great part of the national press this feeling has again and 
again found noble expression. But the statesman who 
could satisfy this yearning, which slumbers in the heart of 
our people undisturbed by the clamor of parties and the party 
press, would carry all spirits with him." 

F. von Bernhardi, Germany and the Next War (1911), trans., 
1914, p. 257. 

" Our claim to- a great position in the world may certainly- 
lead to a war similar to the Seven Years' War. Still, we shall 
be as victorious as was Prussia's hero king. That is my 
absolute and joyous conviction. A great war will unify and 
elevate the people and destroy the diseases which threaten 
the national health. The latent forces within our armies 
require arousing. They will make it unconquerable in hard 
times. * * * 

"Our future lies in our own hands. Small men will talk 
finance and whine that we can not afford it. We can find 
the necessary funds easily, in case of need, by loan. * * * 
Germany does not lack money. What we want is a firm will 
to greatness. Then only shall we obtain greatness. Every- 
one must do his best. All true. Germans must gather round 
the Emperor, ready to give their blood and their treasure 
for the honor, the greatness, and the future of the German 
nation. ^Through war to victory.' " 

F. von Bernhardi, Britain as Germany's Vassal (1912), trans., 
1914, pp. 233, 234. j 



COITQUEST AND KULTUE. 39 

^^Each of us must keep himself fit for arms and also pre- 
pared in his mind for the great solemn hour when the Emperor 
calls us to the standard — the hour when we no longer belong 
to om^selves, but to the fatherland with all the forces of our 
mind and our body; for all these faculties must be brought 
to the highest exertion, to that ^will to victory' which has 
never been without success in history." 

The Crown Prince, in Deutschland in Waffen, May, 1913. 



"A wholesome alternation of appropriate periods of real war 
and real peace is what the author, [Dr. Schmidt-Gibichenfels^ 
War as a Factor of Kultur], looks upon as an indispensable 
condition for the creation and preservation of all that is 
good and beautiful and great and subhme in nature as well 
as in the domain of true and genuine kultur." 

Review in Berliner Neueste Nachrichten, December 24, 1912. 
[N,.p.20.] ^^^^^^ 

'^The old churchmen preached of war as of a just judg- 
m^ent of God ; the miodern natural philosopher sees in war 
the favorable means of selection. They speak with different 
tongues but they mean the same thing." 

Klaus Wagner, Krieg, 1906, p. 145. 



^'As a matter of fact, the struggle between the different social 
classes of one and the same people is nothing but a fever, a 
process of decomposition within the national organism, 
¥7hereas a fight against foreign enemies enhances the sound 
constitution of that organism and endows it with fresh vigor. 
It is not possible for any people to forego the fight — or at 
least the readiness to fight agamst foreign enemies — and at the 
same time to preserve peace within. Tlie so-called world-peace 
does not m,ean order, hut cJiaos. It implies, in the first place, 
an autocracy of the financial powers and the proletarians, di- 
rected agamst the productive classes, and, in the end, in the 
shape of the ^war of all against all,' a return to those pre- 
historic conditions which, in the opinion of our cosmopolites 
themselves, formed the starting point of the whole develop- 
ment of 4-:uitur' in every form." 

Der Reichsbote, Jan. 7, 1913. [N., p. 26.] 



40 COITQUEST AIN^D KULTUE. 

[Speaking of Britain:] ^'Our just hate is too deep, too uni- 
versal. Every German, every warrior abroad, the boy in 
his play, the gray-haired man sitting at home in quiet thought, 
all are aflame for the reckoning with England. That for them 
is victory, and whether they get it or not — we can not tell 
yet — hate will further devour , it will he passed on to our chil- 
dren and children's children.' ' 

Wilhelm Kahl, professor and one time rector at the University of 
Berlin^ Deutsche Reden in Schwerer Zeit, 1914, I, pp. 182-83. 



"We are compelled to carry on this war with a cruelty, a 
ruthlessness, an employment of every imaginable device un- 
known in any previous war." 

Pastor Baumgarten, in Deutsche Reden in Schwerer Zeit, 1914-15. 
[Archer, p. 86.1 



SECTION V. 

WAR AS THE SOLE ARBITER. 



^' We Tiave already seen tliat war is loth justifiahle and morale 
and that the ideal of perpetual peace is not only impossible 
hut immoral as ivell.'^ 

Ti-eitschke. Politics, 1916, II, 599. 



*^ To-day, indeed, we live in a time which points v/ith 
special satisfaction to the proud height of its culture, which 
is only too willing to boast of its international cosmo- 
politanism, and flatters itself with visionary dreams of the 
possibility of an everlasting peace throughout the world. 
This view of life is un-German and does not become us.'^ 
The Crown Prince, in Dents chlancl in Wafren. 1913. 



"We must not look for permanent peace as a resnlt of this 
war. Heaven defend Germany from that." 

Oskar xi. H. Schmitz, in Das wirkiiche Deutschland, 1914, p. 19. 
Schmitz is a writer on politics and literature. 



'^Arbitration treaties must be peculiarly detrimental to an 
aspn-ing people which has not yet reached its political and 
national zenith and is bent on expanding its pov/er in order 
to play its part honorably in the civilized world. Every 
arbitration court must originate in a certain political status; 
it must regard this as legally constituted, and must treat any 
alterations, however necessary, to which the whole of the 
contracting parties do not agree as an encroachm.ent. In 
this way every progressive change is arrested, and a legal 
position created which may easily conflict v/ith the actual 
turn of affairs and may check the expansion of the young 

41 



42 COISTQUEST A-^jy KTJLTTJE. 

and vigorous State in favor of one which is sinking in the 
scale of civilization.'^ 

F. von Bernhardi, Germany and the Next War (1911), trans. 1914, 
p. 32. 



'^Between States regarded as intelligent beings disputes 
can be settled only by material force. War is therefore 
associated with the notion of a State. If you suppress war 
you must therefore remove the State, or what amounts to 
the same thing, the plurality of States; you must set up 
universal despotism, universal slavery," 

Lasson, Das Kultiirideal und der Krieg, 1868, pp. 15-16. A popu- 
lar edition has been published recently. Lasson is professor of 
philosophy at the University of Berlin, and one of the leading phil- 
osophers of Germany. 

'^A State organized only for peace is really no State. A 
State is really manifest only in its preparation for war." 

Idem., p. 17. 



" War is the fundamental phenomenon in the life of a 
State, and preparation for it assumes a preponderant place 
in the national life." 

Idem., p. 18. 



^^It is not alone that which it already has that a State 
defends by war; it is even more that which, as yet, it has 
not, but regards as a necessary gain from the war. It is 
absurd to inveigli against wars of conquest; the sole point 
of interest is the object of the conquest." 
Idem., p. 32. 



^^The State (which realizes the highest form of the cul- 
ture of the race) can realize itseK only by the destruction of 
other States, which, logically, can only be brought about by 
violence." 

Idem., p. 35. 



COISTQUEST AliTD KULTUS, 43 

^' Only the fear of an outside power can impose limits on 
the territorial expansion of the State. Any intervention 
[in the affairs of other States] not encouraged by favorable 
auspices ought to be abandoned; but if success is assured^ 
it is not merely justified^ it becomes actually a duty of the 
State toward itself." 

Idem., p. 43. Lasson, writing after the Austro-Prussian War and 
two years before the Franco-Prussian, manifests a spirit which as an 
octogenarian he has not lost (see p. 17); it is the same as that of 
Bernhardi below. 



"We must strenuously combat the peace propaganda. War 

must regain its moral justification and its political signifi- 
cance in the eyes of the public. It is necessary that its high 
significance as a powerful promoter of civilization should be- 
come generally recognized. * * * In short, we must 
become convinced that a war fought for an ideal or fought 
with the intention of maintaining one's position in the 
world is not a barbaric act but the highest expression of true 
civilization; that war is a political necessity, and that it is 
fought in the interest of biological, social, and moral progress." 

F. von Bernhardi, Britain as Germany's Vassal (1912), trans. 
London, 1914, pp. 105. 



" Our position in the world is happily such that if certain 
sacrifices must be made in the cause of peace, other nations 
must first be called upon to make them; they must be de- 
manded from Germany only in the last resort." 

Friedrich Lange, Reines Deutschtiim, 1904, p. 214. [A., p. 54.] 
Lange is the founder and president of the Deutschbund, a society 
formed in 1894 to push German colonization in Poland and Hungary. 



*' The will to war must go hand in hand with the resolution 
to act on the offensive without a.ny scruples, just because the 
offensive is the only way of insuring victory. It is and 
always will be the most effective method of translating the 
political will into military deeds. That is the reason why we 
can only deplore the fact that in Germany ^ which ''enjoys the 
safest place in the whole world," as I recently saw it stated 
quite properly, it has become official and parliamentary usage 



44 COITQUEST a:n'd kulttje. 

to speak exclusively of Germany's ''defense/' for whicli slie 
ought to be prepared. "No ; G-ermany ought to be armed for 
attack, exactly as in 1870, and therefore this military pre- 
paredness ought to be of sufficient strength to enable us to 
give mihtary expression, if need be, to the wiU to war by the 
use of vastly preponderant forces, as we did in 1870." 

General Keim in Der Tag, October 16, 1912. [N., pp. 89-90.] 



"But there is another lesson to be drawn from the events 
in the Balkans, namely this, that ail questions of high politics 
must be reduced, in the end, to questions of military force, 
and not to formulas of international law or closet pohtics 
or com't diplomacy." 

General Keim in Der Tag, Nov. 8, 1912. [N., p. 90.] 



" When a State recognizes tJiat tJie existing treaties no longer 
express the actual political conditions, and when it cannot 
persuade the other powers to give way hy peaceful negotia-^ 
tions, the moment has come when the nations proceed to the 
ordeal hy battle. A State thus situated is conscious when it 
declares war that it is performing an inevitable duty. The 
combatant countries are moved by no incentives of personal 
greed, but they feel that the real position of power is not 
expressed by existing treaties and that they must be de- 
termined afresh by the judgment of the nations, since no 
peaceful agreement can be reached. The righteousness of 
war depends simply and solely upon the consciousness of a 
moral necessity. War is justified because the great national 
personalities can suffer no compelling force superior to them- 
selves, and because history must always be in constant flux; 
war, therefore, mMst be talcen as part of the divinely appointed 
order J ^ 

Treitschke, PoUtics. Trans., 1916, II, pp. 597-98. 



^•'Our country is obliged more than any other country to 
place all its confidence in its good weapons. Set in the cen- 
ter of Europe, it is badly protected by its unfavorable geo- 
graphic frontiers, and is regarded by many nations without 



COIs^QUEST AND KULTUR. 45 

affection. Upon the German Empire, therefore, is imposed 
more emphatically than upon any other peoples of the earth 
the sacred duty of watching carefully that its army and its 
navy be always prepared to meet any attack from the out- 
side. It is only hy reliance upon our Irave svjord that we 
shall he able to maintain that place in the sun which helongs 
to us, and which the vjorld does not seem very willing to 
accord us.^' 

Crown Prince, in Deutschland in Waffen, 1913. 



GEKMANY OPPOSES ARBITRATION AT THE HAGUE. 

The peaceful settlement of international disputes is largely a gift of the 
English-speaking peoples to the modern world. It was introduced in 
the practice of nations by the Jay treaty of 1794 between the United States 
and Great Britain, negotiated by John Jay on special mission in London. 
Articles 5, 6, and 7 of the treaty, which fitly bears his name, submitted the 
disputes outstanding between the United States and Great Britain to arbi- 
tration, and the success of the Commission organized under article 7 caused 
nations little by little to try the method and, having tried it, to elevate it 
to a custom. The peaceful settlement of international disputes, largely by 
means of arbitration, may properly be called the traditional policy of the 
United States, and it has been, with one exception, the policy of the United 
States and Great Britain in the settlement of disputes sure to arise between 
nations in their mutual intercourse. 

Peaceful settlement has not been the policy of Prussia, and where diplo- 
macy has failed, the sword has been drawn. Some of its most thoughtful 
subjects have indeed been strongly in favor of peaceful settlement, and no 
one was more devoted to the cause than the great philosopher, Kant, whose 
tractate on perpetual peace is a classic on the subject. The views of Kant 
and of his enlightened countrymen have not, however, prevailed. To 
mention but a number of instances, the war with Denm^ark of 1848 and 1864 
about the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, the war of 1866 with Austria, 
the war of 1870 with France. At the second Hague Conference the German 
delegate admitted the feasibility of arbitration, but blocked the adoption 
of any general arbitration treaty, as the Imperial Germ^an Government 
favored negotiations and treaties with individual nations or nations in 
pairs. It has steadily refused the offers of the United States first made 
by Mr. Root and renewed by Mr. Bryan, to conclude a general arbitration 
treaty between this country and Germany. The German's fundamental 
faith in force, evident throughout this pamphlet, finds expression in the 
hostility to international law and contempt for treaty obligations re^^ealed 
in the following section.^ 



1 V/e are indebted to Dr. James Brown Scott for this note and the suggestion of the 
passages from Mr. White. 



46 CONQUEST AND KULTUE. 

[May 24, 1899.] ' ' Meeting Count Miinster [chairman of the 
German delegation] who, after M. de Staal, is very generally 
considered the most important personage here, we discussed 
the subject of arbitration. To my great regret, I fomid him 
entirely opposed to it; or, at least, entirely opposed to any 
well-developed plan. He did not say that he would oppose 
a moderate plan for volmitary arbitration, but he insisted 
that arbitration must be injurious to Germany; that Germany 
is prepared for war as no other country is or can he; that she 
can mohilize her army in ten days; and that neither France, . 
Eussia, nor any other power can do this. Arbitration, he 
said, would simply give rival powers time to put themselves 
m readiness, and would therefore be a great disadvantage to 
Germany." 

Autobiography of Andrew D. ^^^lite, 1905, II, p. 265. 



[June 9, 1899.] ''At 6 o'clock Dr. Holls [secretary of the 
American legation at the Peace Conference], who represents 
us upon the subcommittee on arbitration, came in with 
most discouraging news. It now a^ppears that the German 
Emperor is determined to oppose the whole scheme of 
arbitration, and will have nothing to do with any plan for 
a regular tribunal, whether as given in the British or the 
American scheme. This news comes from various sources, 
and is confirmed by the fact that, in the subcommittee one 
of the German delegates. Professor Zorn of Konigsberg, who 
had become very earnest in behalf of arbitration, now says 
that he may not be able to vote for it. There are also 
signs that the German Emperor is influencmg the minds 
of his allies — the sovereigns of Austria, Italy, Turkey, and 
Roumania — leadmg them to oppose it." 

Idem., II, p. 293. 



[June 15.] ''Early this morning Count Miinster called, 
wishing to see me especially, and at once plunged into the 
question of the immunity of private property from seizure 
on the high seas. He said that he had just received instruc- 



COIs^QUEST AND KULTUK. 47 

tions from his Governmont to join us heartily in bringing 
the question before the conference; that his Government, 
much as it inchnes to favor the principle, could not yet see 
its way to commit itself fully; that its action must, of course, 
depend upon the conduct of other powers in the matter, 
as foreshadowed by discussions in the conference, but that 
he was to aid us in bringing it up. 

^^I told him I was now preparing a draft of a memorial 
to the conference giving the reason why the subject ought 
to be submitted, and that he should have it as soon as com- 
pleted. 

^'This matter being for the time disposed of, we took up 
the state of the arbitration question, and the consequences 
of opposition by Germany and her two allies to every feasible 
plan. 

'^He was very much in earnest, and declared especially 
against compulsory arbitration. To this I answered that 
the plan thus far adopted contemplated entirely voluntary 
arbitration, with the exception that an obligatory system 
was agreed upon as regards sundry petty matters in which 
arbitration would assist all the States concerned; and that 
if he disliked this latter feature, but would agree to the 
others, we would go with him in striking it out, though we 
should vastly prefer to retain it. 

^'He said, ^Yes; you have already stricken out part of it 
in the interest of the United States,' referring to the features 
concerning the Monroe doctrine, the regulation of canals, 
rivers, etc. 

'"Very true,' I answered; 'and if there are any special 
features which affect unfavorably German policy or interests, 
move to strike them out, and we will heartily support you.' 

''He then dwelt in his usual manner on his special hobby, 
which is that modern nations are taking an entirely false 
route in preventing the settlement of their difficulties by 
trained diplomatists, and intrusting them to a^rbitration by 
men inexperienced in international matters, who really can 
not be miprejudiced or uninfluenced; and he spoke with 
especial contempt of the plan for creating a bureau, com- 
posed, as he said, of university professors and the like, to 
carry on the machinery of the tribunal. 



48 COl^QUEST AND KULTXJE. 

^'Here I happened to have a tnimp card. I showed him 

Sir Julian Pauncefote^s [Enghsh delegate] plan to substitute 

a council composed of all the ministers of the signatory 

powers residing at The Hague, with my amendment making 

the Dutch minister of foreign affairs its president. This 

he read and said he liked it; in fact, it seemed to remove a 

mass of prejudice from his mind." 

Idem., II, pp. 301-302. 
***** 



[June 16.] ^'This morning Count IVfunster called and 
seemed much excited by the fact that he had received a dis- 
patch from Berlin in which the German Government — which, 
of course, means the Emperor — had strongly and finally de- 
clared against everything like an arbitration tribunal. He 
was clearly disconcerted by this too literal acceptance of his 
own earlier views, and said that he had sent to M. de Staal 
insisting that the meeting of the subcommittee on arbitra- 
tion, which had been appointed for this day (Friday), 
should be adjourned on some pretext until next Monday; 
'for,' said he 'if the session takes place to-day, Zorn must 
make the declaration Jn behalf of Germany which these new 
instructions order him to make, and that would be a mis- 
fortune.' I was very glad to see this evidence of change of 
heart in the count, and immediately joined him in securing 
the adjournment he desired." 

Idem,, II, p. 308. 
^ -x- * ^ * * 

It should be added that the exertions of Ambassador White and Mr. Holls 
of the American delegation apparently won von Biilow and Prince Hohen- 
lohe to the American arbitration plan. However, at the conclusion Baron 
Marschall von Bieberstein, of the German delegation; while approving 
arbitration in principle, voted against its compulsory application. Ger- 
many would, he said, continue to negotiate individual treaties. The 
reason is evident from Von Billow's speech below. 



'' Germany has not found any formula that will meet the 
great diversity which characterizes the geographical, the 
economic, the military, and the political positions of the 
various countries, or which would be calculated to put an 
end to the diversities and at the same time to furnish a basis 



CONQUEST AXD KULTUR. 49 

for an agreement [hence she could not take part in dis- 
cussions on disarmament at The Hague]/' 

Prince von Bulow, Reichstag, Apr. 30, 1907. Reden, 1907-09, III, 
p. 33. 

^'Here we have, gentlemen, the results of our naval 
agitation. For what England is doing now, we have to thank 
the advocates of this naval policy. * * * It is altogether 
the fault of the German Government that this has come about. 
This can not be denied. The Liberal Government in England 
announced from the very first, when it came into povver in 
the beginning of 1906, that it was going to tackle the ques- 
tion of the limitation of armaments. Mr. Campbell-Banner - 
man announced this at once in the House of Commons. 
Afterwards !Mr. Vivian, a.n English La.bor member, brought 
in a motion advocating the limitation of armaments. This 
motion was accepted by the Government and carried in both 
Houses of Parliament in May, 1906. Indeed, the Liberal 
Government went so far at that time as to reduce subse- 
quently the naval budget for 1906. A very considerable 
amount was struck off the naval budget, and the English 
ministers gave as a reason for this reduction that England 
meant to take the lead [in disarmament] by practical measures, 
because each country had ahvays thought that the other 
ought to take the lead. 

^ 'After that, gentlemen, at the interparliamentary con- 
ference in London in 1906, in which, as you know, members 
of this house took part, Mr. Campbell-Bannerman once more 
set forth the whole matter, and that conference resolved 
unanimously to submit the question of the lunitation of 
armaments to the second conference at The Hague, i^nd after 
all this — these words are meant for those gentlemen who 
formed that resolution — you ranged yourselves on the side 
of Billov/'s policy, which amounted to this, that the question 
of the limitation of armaments was prevented from being 
discussed, and that the British Government wa,s disavowed. 
On April 30, 1907 — perhaps 3^ou are by this time sorry for 
it yourselves — you backed up Prince Biilow in this house, 
when he carried this policy against the Liberal English Gov- 
ernment. Nevertheless, the Liberal English Government 

12726°— 17 i 



50 CONQUEST AND KULTUR. 

persevered in its efforts to further the matter. I need only 
remind you that Mr. Lloyd-George and others, as we were 
told last year, tried once more to take the matter up with the 
German Government — not, it is true, in a formal way, but 
still with sufficient competence in the matter. 

"You will have to bear these facts in mind in order to under- 
stand what has happened in England. The Liberal Govern- 
ment had taken a stand on this question during all these 
years, had pledged its authority, and had taken the lead by 
practical proposals. It was disavowed b}^ Germany, The 
outcome is to be seen in the result of the general elections — 
a gain of the English jingoes and Conservatives which is 
almost decisive. And now the Liberal Party finds itseK 
compelled, in order not to be swept out of power under the 
influence of the 'German terror,' to make this tremendous 
increase of the navy a plank of its own platform. This is 
what we have achieved." 

Dr. David in the Reichstag, Mar. 16, 1910. Eduard David is one 
of the leaders of the Social-Democratic Party in Germany. 



"Gentlemen, if the great powers wish to come to an under- 
standing in regard to a general international disarmament, 
they will first have to come to an agreement in regard to the 
respective rank to which the different nations may lay 
claim, as compared with each other. An order of precedence, 
so to speak, would have to be drawn up, and each single nation 
would have to be entered according to its allotted number, 
together with the sphere of influence that is to be accorded 
to it, in some such way, perhaps, as in the case of the in- 
dustrial syndicates. I must decline, gentlemen, to draw up 
such a list or to submit it to an international tribunal. 
* * * Gentlemen, wJioever considers the question of a gen- 
eral diso.rmament objectively and seriously and follows it up to 
its last consequences must come to tlie conviction that it com not 
he solved as long as human heings are human heings, and as 
long as states are states." 

Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg in the Reichstag, Mar. 30, 1911. 



SECTION VI. 
ECONOMIC NECESSITY OF EXPANSION. 



^' TTie first prerequisites for ivorld power are extensive terri- 
tory and population, together with a powerful tendency toward 
expansion. A world power needs extensive territory, * * * 
not only for food and the raw materials necessary to man- 
ufacture but also as a market for these manufactures. Be- 
sides, it needs a population bound together by customs, 
speech, and blood. The size of the possessions will not do 
it of itseK — the possessions must be in safe hands, the pos- 
sessors must be hnked together by a strong and inseparable 
tie. Only that State can he a world power and remain such 
which disposes of sufficient forces to rule and hold its wide ter- 
ritory and corresponding share of world trade.^^ 

Arthur Dix, Deutschland aut den Hoclistrassen des Weltwirt- 
schaftsverkehrs, 1901, p. 26. 



^'Economic superiority, which is the result of a m^ore ex- 
tensive territory, must in tim.e lead to pohtical superiority 
and predominance. In other words, great kingdoms keen 
for conquest are in a position finally to make the Uttle ones 
subject to them; or, vice versa, an economic mastery which 
is exerted only by possession of capital and by exports to 
foreign markets, without equivalent pohtical power and 
territorial mastery, rests on feet of clay. It is the territory 
which stands at their disposal for their independent devel- 
opment that determines the future of peoples otherwise 
gifted quite equally." 

Max Sering, in Handels- imd Machtpolitik, 1900, II. pp. 33-34. 
Sering is professor of political economy in the University of Berlin. 



'' Because the German people nowadays increase at the 
rate of 800,000 inhabitants a year they need both room and 

5i 



52 CONQUEST A^D KULTTJE. 

nourishment for the surplus. * * * If we had limited our- 
selves to the territory formerly in our possession we should 
have lost the larger part of our increase to foreign countries 
and the rest would have been without work. The increase in 
population would soon have come to an end, and our effect- 
iveness in labor and in war, the dissemination of German 
speech, German thought and productivity over the world 
would not have been able to continue. The increase of 
population would have passed into the curse of overpopu- 
lation — a superfluity of those without work and in misery. 
That, however, must never be. * * * The rapid growth of 
the German people must continue to give it room, light, and 
air. As a world power in the world market, we must assert 
our place and make it secure in order that the younger hands 
may find room and opportunity for employment." 

Arthur Dix, Deiitscliland auf den Hochstrassen des Weitwii't- 
schaftsverkehi's, 1901, p. 14, 



^^In order to live and to lead a JieaUTiy and joyous life we 
need a vast extent of fresli arable land. Tliis is what impe- 
rialism. must give us. Germany may reap the fruits of Rus- 
sian policy, if she has-sufficient courage. * * * What would 
be the use of a Germanism flourishing in Brazil or in South 
Africa ? It would further the expansion of the German race 
very greatly, but it would contribute very little to the might 
of the German Empire. * * * On the other hand; the con- 
tinental expansion of German territory, the multiplication 
on the continent of the German peasantry, whose activities 
and capacities are so immeasurably superior to the obtuse 
nonchalance of the moujiks, would form a sure barrier 
against the advance of om' enemies, and a secure basis for 
om^ growing power." 

Albrecht Wirth, Volkstum und Weltmaclit in der Geschichte, 
1901, p. 235. Albrecht Wirth is privat-docent in the Technische 
Hochschule at Munich and writer of many books. 



^^In the good old times it happened that a strong people 
thrust a weak one out of its ancestral abode by wars of 
extermination. To-day such deeds of violence no longer 



CONQUEST AND KULTUE. 53 

occur. To-day everything goes on peaceably on this 
wretched earth, and it is those who have profited who are 
for peace. TJie little peoples and the remnants of a people 
have invented a new word — that is, international law. In 
reahty it is nothing else than their reckoning on our good- 
natured stupidity. * * * 

" Room ; they must make room. The western and south- 
em Slavs — ^or we! Since we are the stronger, the choice will 
not be difficult. We must quit our modest waiting at the 
door. Only by growth can a people save itself, England 
has its Greater Britain and America its '^ America for the 
Americans." If England has succeeded in getting 4,000,000 
Irishmen out of Ireland without stirring up any of the great 
powers against her, it is possible for us to bring about peace 
and order in middle Europe as a basis for the further develop- 
ment of the German people." 

Tannenberg, Gross-Deutschland: die Arbeit des 20ten Jahrhun- 
derts, 1911, pp. 74-75. 



On pages 99-107, Tannenberg makes it clear that Switzerland, Luxem- 
burg, Belgium, and Holland and their colonies must be incorporated in 
the Empire, if for no other reason because these little countries have profited 
by German protection gratis, and in the case of Switzerland in particular 
have profited by German inventions and then undersold the Germans. 

'^Conquering and occupying the comi try [western Russia], 
however, is not enough of itself. Wliat annoyance we have 
had with this bit of Alsace-Lorraine, with its trifling 15,000 
square kilometers! The honor of entering the German Em- 
pire and its customs imion must be paid for. Alsace-Lorraine 
brought us ^ milliard, marks for a dowry. That vjas a tidy 
sum, hut 25 milliards would have been heiter.^' 

In the folloTving paragraph he dwells with satisfaction on the natui'al 
richness of the Baltic provinces of Russia, which the German Empire 
may be expected to seize. 
Idem., p. 143. 

He speaks apprehensively of the development of the United States, and 
declares that there is a party in the country which may expand the Monroe 
Doctrine "America for the Americans" into '"The World for America." 

As for Spain, he laments the fact that her lost colonies did not fall into 
German hands. ''Fate meant well by us when she bestowed upon us the 



54 CONQUEST AND KULTUR. 

favor of the quarrel about the Caroline Islands, but unfortunately it turned 
out otherwise." And he regrets the opportunity, then let slip, to seize 
"Cuba, the Pearl of the Antilles," and the Philippines. 

Idem, p. 215. 



''Since Bismarck retired there has been a complete change 
of pubhc opinion. It is no longer proper to say ' Germany is 
satisfied.' Our historical development and our economic needs 
sJiow that we are once more hungry for territory, and this 
situation compels Germany to follow paths unforeseen by 
Bismarck." 

Daniel Frymann, Wenn Ich der Kaiser ware, 1911, 21st ed., 1914, 
p. 9. Frymann 's work has been widely read in Germany, much 
more widely, indeed, than Bernhardi. 



"Our national development calls for recognition. A 
natural right is growing up in that respect. This is not a 
poHcy of prestige or of adventure. 

'^Moreover, we are not an institute for the artificial 'preserva- 
tion of dying nations J ^ 

Leipziger Tageblatt, Jan. 24, 1913. [N., p. 51.] 



''Strong, healthy, and flourishing nations increase in num- 
bers. From a given moment they require a continual 
expansion of their frontiers, they require new territory for 
the aGCom_modation of their surplus population . Since almost 
every part of the glohe is inhabited, nevj territory must, as a 
rule, he obtained at the cost of its possessors — thai is to so.y, hy 
conquest, which thus becomes a law of necessity. 

"The right of conquest is universally acknowledged. At 
first the procedure is pacific. Overpopulated countries pour 
a stream of emigrants into other states and territories. 
These submit to the legislature of the new country, but try 
to obtain favorable conditions of existence for themselves 
at the cost of the original inhabitants, with whom they 
compete. This amounts to conquest." 

F. von Bernhardi, Germany and the Next War (1911), trans. 
1914, pp. 21-22. 



CO:\TQUEST AND KULTUE. 55 

^^ Gentlemen, the craving for expansion makes itself felt 
most strongly in those countries where a rapid capitahstic 
development obtains, in those countries where the monopo- 
lization of industry by syndicates, trusts, and dominating 
banking interests has reached the highest degree. To this 
must be added certain differences which have to be accounted 
for by historic development; and in regard to Germxany, 
it is of special significance that, notwithstanding her enor- 
mous industrial progress, she is not a colonial empire of any 
account. We can not compare our colonies to those of 
France or England nor even to those of small countries like 
Belgium and Holland, In view of the efforts of our impe- 
rialists and in view of the eft'orts of our capitahsts to monopo- 
hze the economically profitable areas, this craving for ex- 
pansion is, no doubt, a source of great danger." 

Deputy Scheidemann, in the Reichstag, Mar. 30, 1911. Philip Scheide- 
mann is leader of the majority Socialist group in the Reichstag and has 
lately been a leader in the movement for the Stockholm conference. 



" * * * Geimany, in the interest of her foreign trade and 
pushed by iron necessity, will, after this war, be driven into 
^world-economic' expansion to an extent such as even the 
boldest advocates of world trade hardly regarded as neces- 
sary before the war. The degree to which the treaties of 
peace create the preliminary conditions for this will decide 
the verdict on the success of Tjerman arms and on the 
wisdom of German diplomacy." 

Bernhard Harms, Deutschlands Anteil an Welthandel und Welt- 
politik, 1916, p. 215. Harms is professor of political economy at the 
University of Kiel. 



SECTION VII. 
GERMANY THE RULER OF MIDDLE EUROPE 



The significance of a ]\Iiddle Europe as planned by the Germans is not 
easy to grasp. The scheme appears innocent, but let no one be deceived. 
If realized, what is there in the world to oppose this new Roman Empire? 
England, with its widely scattered empire, of whose population over one- 
half is in India; the nonmilitary Republic of the United States; Russia 
divided by internal dissensions and relatively weakened abroad? Nor should 
we be deceived as to the final purposes concealed in this plan. Take its 
relation to Russia. By the inclusion of Poland, Germany would take from 
Russia its principal manufacturing area. By its ability to close the Dar- 
danelles, Russia's great outlet, it would hold a club over Russia's ex- 
port trade. Russia is not to-day and will not probably for some years be 
in a position to rectify this situation. And economic dependence is very 
likely in these days to lead to political dependence as well. The effect of 
Middle Europe on the other parts of Em^ope can be judged from two sen- 
tences of the most moderate of its advocates, Naumann and Von Liszt: 
"Middle Em'ope will be German at the core; it will use the German lan- 
guage in its ofiicial communications"; and, conversely, "Serbia and Monte- 
negro will have to obey; they will have to do as they are told." This is no 
commercial scheme — it is a world empire taking shape before our eyes. 

^'Greater Germany is the goal of the twentieth century. 
We shall fill Middle Europe with an empire of racial vigor. 
We shall then he in a position to raeet the further duties and 
demands that are in store for us J' 

Tannenberg, Gross-Deutschland: Die Arbeit des 20ten Jahrhun- 
derts, 1911, p. 87. 



'^Only a Germany that reaches frora the Ems to the 
Danube, from Memel to Trieste, to about the Bug, can 
compel peace in Europe without imposing a lasting burden 
on her inhabitants. For only such a Germany can feed 
herseh, only such a Germany can defeat France and 
Russia * * *. Since, then, all the world desires peace, 
all the world must desire such a Germany, '' etc. 

Lagarde, Deutsche Schriften (1878), 1891, pp. 113-14. Paul de 
Lagarde (1827-91), whose real name was Boetticher, was a theolo- 
gian and professor at Gottinqen. 
56 



COI^ QUEST AKD KULTUE. 57 

'^ Tlie strongest Germanic State on tlie Continent must taJce 
over the hegemony; the smaller ones must sacrifice as m^uch 
of their independence and their language as is necessary to 
the permanent insurance of a new imperial unity. 

" The question whether military force would become 
requisite is secondary, but it is essential that the state which 
aspires to the hegemony should have at its disposal sufficient 
intellectual, economic, and mihtary power to reach this 
end and hold it fast. Which state would it be ? It can be 
only the German Empire, which is now in search of m.ore 
territory. No one can doubt it after the above dissertation 
on the other great powers. The moral situation, however, 
is so far favorable to the little Germanic ^ States that a 
mihtary, fratricidal attack upon them will not be at all 
necessary. All depends upon Germanifs OuvJtning the hege- 
mony in middle and western Europe hy the subjection of 
France and the incorporation, at the same time or afterwards, 
of the German Provinces of Austria in any form that may 
suit our racial purposes. The natural pressure of this new 
German Empire will be so great that, willy-nilly, the sur- 
rounding little Germanic States will have to attach them^- 
selves to it under conditions which we set." 

Joseph L. Reimer, Ein pangermanisches Deutschland, 1905, pp. 
119-120. Reimer is one of the yoiing liberal-imperialists. His fame 
rests on this book. 



*'Iet no man say every people has a right to its existence, 
its speech, etc. With this saying in one's mouth one can 
easily appear civilized, but only so long as the respective 
peoples remain separated from one another, are viewed by 
themselves, and do not stand in the way of a mightier 
one. * * * When the little nations clash with the great 
and mighty, then their worth is tried. Duty within and 
necessity without require that so we should treat them. In 
this respect there are two possibilities: 

'^ 1. The peoples in question have Germanic blood in their 
veins, belong therefore by nature in part to us, or they 
have none, are therefore altogether alien. 

1 Germanic is not the same as German — it means people who speak a Teutonic language, 
as the Dutch, Danish, Swedish, or English, and who, as the Pan-Germans love to think, are 
of Teutonic blood. Actually there is much less of this in the inhabitants of the 3maller 
Teutonic nations and of the German Empire itself than the latter like to acknowledge. 



58 CONQUEST AXD KULTUE. 

^'2. They are politically or geographically in our way, or 
they are not. 

" In the first case it is our double duty to draw the Germanic 
blood to us — a duty to ourselves not to let this kindred blood 
be lost, but to preserve it from further mixture and treasure 
it up for the strengthening of our Germanic stock; and a duty 
to the Germanic blood in these peoples itself to free it of 
obstructive mixture and let it have a part in the loftier 
destinies of a greater Pan-Germanic Germany. 

" If the peoples in question have nothing Germanic about 
them, and are essentially alien to our culture, then the 
second question is in place: Are they in the way of our ex- 
pansion or not ? If not, let them develop even as their nature 
bids them; if they are, to spare them would be folly. Those 
whom we spared would be a thorn in our flesh which we did 
not extract — for the thorn's sake." 
Idem, pp. 129-130. 



" Do not let us forget the civilizing task which the decrees 
of Providence have assigned to us. Just as Prussia was 
destined to be the nucleus of Germany, so the regenerated 
Germany shaU be the nucleus of a future empire of the West. 
And in order that no one shall be left in doubt we proclaim 
from henceforth that our continental nation has a right to 
the sea, not only to the North Sea, but to the Mediterranean 
and the Atlantic. Hence we intend to absorb one after 
another all the provinces which neighbor on Prussia. We 
will successively annex Denmarlc, Holland, Belgium, Northern 
Switzerland, then Trieste and Venice, finally Northern France, 
from the Sambre to the Loire. This program we fearlessly 
pronounce. It is not the work of a madman. The empire 
we intend to found wiU be no Utopia. We have ready to 
hand the means of founding it and no coalition in the world 
can stop us." 

Bronsart von Schellendorf, quoted by H. A. L. Fisher in The War, 
its Causes and Issues, 1914, p. 16. 



'^ The future territory of German expansion, situated be- 
tween the territories of the eastern and western powers, 
must absorb all the intermediate regions; it must stretch 



CONQUEST AND KULTUE. ^ 59 

from the North Sea and the Baltic through the Nether- 
lands, taking in Luxemburg and Switzerland, down to the 
lands of the Danube and the Balkan peninsula, and will 
include Asia Minor as far as the Persian Gulf. The influence 
of other world powers must be eliminated from this great 
territory." 

Ernst Hasse, Weltpolitik, Imperialismus und Kolonialpolitik, 1906, 
p. 65. Hasse was professor of colonial politics at Leipzig, and a mu- 
nicipal official. He was one of the most active leaders of the Pan- 
German League and its president. 

[Franz von Liszt advocates the inclusion of Austria- 
Hungary, Holland, and the Scandinavian kingdoms, Switzer- 
land, and Italy.] ^^ Apart from an independent Polish state 
to be formed, the Balkan peninsula, including European 
Turkey, would form a portion of Middle Europe. We may 
further count on the inclusion of Bulgaria and Roumania 
after their territorial vnshes have been satisfied, but it 
remains to be seen what attitude Greece would adopt. 
Serbia and Montenegro will have to accept the situation 
and do as they are told. I think the inclusion of Turkey 
is particularly important, for Turkey connects the Middle 
European union of states with Asia and Africa, particularly 
with Egypt and the Suez Canal. By attaching Turkey, a 
large and fruitful field will be opened for the promotion of 
peaceful industry and for carrying out the imperial program 
sketched out at Damascus in 1898. Middle Europe would 
be connected with the world of Islam. 

'*If we add up we find that the territories to be included in 
the Middle European union would extend to 8,000,000 
square kilometers. They are inhabited by about 200,000,000 
people. In extent the union would rank after the British 
Empire, Russia, and the United States. In number of pop- 
ulation it would rank only after the British Empire. The 
economic independence of the union would be secured by 
the colonial possessions of the allied states.'' 

Franz von Liszt, Ein mitteleuropaischer Staatenverband, 1914, 
pp. 32-33. Von Liszt is professor of criminal law at Berlin. Von 
Liszt signed in 1915 the Delbriick-Dernburg petition against incor- 
porating in Germany independent peoples. But " strategic needs " 
and ''economic" were recognized. Among the 143 signers were men 
who prefer southeastern expansion, or colonial — as Delbriick — to the 
annexation of neighbors. 



60 COITQUEST AND KULTUR. 

''A glance at the map shows us that our bulwark against 
Russia will have to extend from the North Cape to the 
Black Sea and from hence to the Caucasus and to the Per- 
sian Gulf. The Scandinavian countries, tlie German Empire, 
Austria-Hungary, Roumania, Bulgaria, and Turkey ought to 
form one community; for every single one of these states 
would be lost if Russia should gain control over one of them, 
and thus be able to exert pressure on the others. * * * 
At any rate, it may be said that, within these frontiers, the 
Middle European community approximately comes up to the 
mark of equality with our eastern neighbors in regard to the 
number of its population." [Winterstetten reckons up over 
161,000,000 in the new Middle Europe.] 

Karl von Winterstetten, Nordkap-Bagdad, das politische Programm 
des Ki'ieges, 1914, pp. 8-9. 



"The establishment of a sphere of economic influence from 
the North Sea to the Persian Gulf has been for nearly two 
decades the silent unspoken aim of Grerman foreign policy. 
Our diplomacy in recent years, which, has seemed to the 
great mass of all Germans vacillating and Kttle conscious of 
its aim, only becomes intelligible when regarded as part of a 
consistent eastern design. It is to the credit of Rohrbach 
to have shown in his writings how the single incidents fit into 
the general scheme of our poHcy. It is indeed in this region, 
and in this region alone, that Germany can break out of her 
isolation in the center of Europe, into the fresh air beyond, and 
win a compact sphere of economic activity which will remain 
open to her mdependently of the favor and the jealousy 
of the great powers. Apart from the' defense of hearth 
and home, no other success could compensate G-ermany for 
the enormous sacrifices of the war if she did not secure a 
really free hand, pohticaUy speaking, to pursue this economic 
goal. * * * A secure future for Germany is to be reached 
along this road* and no other, and Germany would be miss- 
ing the greatest opportunity ever offered her in the history 
of her foreign relations if she were not now to go forward with 
vigor and decision to its realization." 

From an essay by Dr. Spiethoff in Die wirtschaf tliche Annaherung 
zwischen dem Deiitschen Reiche und seinen Verbiindeten, 19i6. 



COI^QUEST AND KULTTJR. 61 

I, p. 24 [Round Table, March, 1917.] Arthur Spiethoff is professor 
of political economy at the University of Prague, Austria. 



'^Somebody coined the phrase ^Berlin-Bagdad.' Why- 
shall we not say 'Antwerp-Bagdad' ? I consider it utterly 
impossible that we should ever hand back Antwerp to the 
mad ministers of King Albert. Why should not Antwerp 
be connected with the Rhine ? What we still have to do is 
to prolong the great waterway into Austria-Hungary and 
the Balkans. Mackensen has seen to it that the guns of 
Belgrade and Semendria can never again menace our Danube 
shipping. As for Roumania, that criminal State will never 
recover the position which she had before." 

Dr. Giinther, Radical, in the Bavarian Diet, quoted in the 
London Times, Mar. 6, 1917. 



'^And over all these, over the Germans, French, Danes, and 
Poles in the German Empire, over the Magyars, Germans, 
Roumanians, Slovaks, Croats, and Serbs in Hungary, over 
the Germans, Czechs, Slovaks, Poles and Southern Slavs in 
Austria, let us imagine once again the controlling concept of 
Mid-Europe. Mid-Europe will Jiave a German nucleus; will 
voluntarily use the German language, which is known all 
over the world and is already the language of intercourse 
within central Europe, but must from the outset display 
toleration and flexibility in regard to all the neighboring 
languages that are associated with it. ^ ^ ^ j^i this 
respect much has been lacking before the war. * * * 

^^In this respect the new generation growing up after the 
war will do better than the old people, so that a type of 
Mid-European may be worked out including all elements of 
culture and strength, the bearer of a civilization of rich and 
varied content, gro^\^ing up around the German nationality." 

F. Naumann, Central Europe, 1916, pp. 108-109. Naiunann was 
a German clergyman and is editor of Die Hilfe. He has written 
many books on social-economic questions, and is a radical in the 
Reichstae:. 



" Of the territory Germany now holds in the west she should 
retain what is necessary to strengthen the security of the 



62 CONQUEST AND KULTUE. 

Empire by land and sea. This territory, * * * should 
be annexed 'politically, militarily, and economically.' In 
the east * * * such territory should be held as would 
not only improve Germany's position strategically burt would 
afford new territory for colonization." 

Resolution adopted unanimously by a committee of members of 
the National Liberal party of Germany at a meeting held in Berlin, 
as reported by the Kolnische Zeitung and summarized in Amsterdam 
for the New York Times, June 4, 1915. 



''The course of the history of the world serves as a warn- 
ing to the states of Middle Europe to join together by close 
economic ties and to put aside separate political ijiterests for 
the great purpose of upholding completely the independence 
and spiritual culture of that kingdom which has won the 
leading position in Europe among the world powers.' ' 

J. Partsch, Mitteleuropa, 1914, p. 6. Josef Partsch is a professor 
of geography at Leipsig. This work set forth the geographic basis 
for a Middle Europe and prepared the way for those who advocated 
a Middle Europe on economic and political grounds. 



" Such a league [between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and 
Holland] is a matter purely for the contracting States, and 
does not concern France or England or anyone else in the 
world, 

"Should France, with or without England, make such a 
league the occasion for a declaration of war, it would render 
the Pan-German movement the same service it did the 
solution of the German question in 1870. A second Waterloo 
would suit us. We raust keep our powder dry. [If war 
comes] no peace sliould he concluded without the acquisition 
hy the German Empire of the French part of Flanders in 

Belgium and all of Luxemburg J ^ 

***** 

"Holland needs our settlers and our might for its overseas 
possessions, which of itself it can not protect and develop. 
We need these new Dutch territories, already ^fertilized hy 
German Mood, for the indispensable expansion of our economic 
dominions. We need free traffic on a German Rhine to its 
mouth, a traffic which the silent resistance of Holland now 
keeps from us. 



CONQUEST AND KULTUE. 63 

cc:^ * * j-f Holland, were merely a continental power, 
this alliance would only come about when Germany was 
ready to impose her just claims by force. But as the vast 
transoceanic possessions of Holland are daily crumbling 
away imder a growing menace, the merchant princes of the 
Amstel and the Meuse are impelled by considerations of 
personal interest to make common cause with us." 

Fritz Bley, Die alldeutsche Bewegung und die Niedeiiande, 
1897, pp. 6-7. 



^^If Middle Europe wishes to become a v/orld power it will 
have to find its way to the shores of the Indian Ocean, and 
that way is through Bagdad. Once it has gained a footing 
on that sea it will also he able to defend those precious posses- 
sions which Holland, in order not to lose them, will have to 
intrust to the protection of Middle Europe — the Dutch Indies. 
Holland has no longer any choice in this new era, when the 
map of the world is being remade, and when states are being 
gathered together into vast empires. Either she will have to 
save her colonies and her independence by joining the Middle 
European federation (which does not mean the German 
Empire), or she will lose both. This war will do away with 
the small neutral states, and at the end of this whole devel- 
opment, for the accomplishment of which more wars than 
one may prove necessary, there will be only large federated 
states left, which is in accordance with the character and 
tendencies of our times, and is also demanded by the fact 
that the small countries can only maintain themselves along- 
side of those gigantic states by joining forces," 

Karl von Winterstetten, Nordkap-Bagdad: das polilische Programm 

des Kriegs, 1914, p. 23. 



In telegrams which have recently been brought to light from the Russian 
archives the Czar and the German Emperor are shown to have been 
arranging in 1905 for a secret alliance endangering Denmark. In case of 
war with England, Denmark was to be treated as Belgium has been in the 
present war, except that a preliminary effort was to be made to make the 
Danes see and accept the ine\dtable. The German Emperor telegraphed 
on August 2, 1905, from Copenhagen, where he had gone to break ground 
for several nefarious schemes. 

'^Considering great number of channels leading from 
Copenhagen to London and proverbial v/ant of discretion 



64 CONQUEST AITD KULTTJE. 

of the Danish court, I was afraid to let anything be known 
about our alliance, as it would immediately have been 
communicated to London, a most impossible thing so long 
as treaty is to remain secret for the present. 

^'By long conversation with Isvolsky, however, I was able 
to gather that actual Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count 
Raben, and a number of persons of influence have already 
come to the conviction that in case of war and impending 
attack -on Baltic from foreign power Danes expect — their 
inability and helplessness to uphold even shadow of neu- 
trality against invasion being evident — that Russia and 
G-ermany will immediately take steps to safeguard tkeir 
interests by laying hands on Denmark and occupying it 
during the war. 

'^As this would at the same time guarantee territory and 
future existence of dynasty and country, the Danes are 
slowly resigning themselves to this alternative and making 
up their minds accordingly. This being exactly what you 
wished and hoped for, I thought it better not to touch on the 
subject with Danes and refrained from making any allusions. 

''It is better to let the idea develop and ripen in their heads 
and let them draw final conclusions themselves, so that they 
will of their own accord be moved to lea,n upon us and fall 
into line with our two countries. Tout vient a qui sait 
attendre. ['All things come to him who waits.'] 

''Willy." 



''There is no other solution for Austria than that of be- 
coming a colonial State of Germany.'' 

Paul de Lagarde, Deutsche Schriften (1878), 1891, p. 111. See 
note, 56. 



"Austria lacks a ruling race. Only the Germans can rule 
in Austria." 

Idem, p. 397. 



"With regard to the east, the following consideration must 
guide us: For the great increase in industrial power which 
we expect in the west we must secure a counterpoise by the 
annexation of an agricultural territory of equal value in the 
east. * * * It is necessary to strengthen the agricultural 



CONQUEST AND KULTUB. 65 

basis of our national economy; to secure room for tlie expan- 
sion of a great German agricultural settlement; to restore to 
our empire the German peasants living in a foreign land, 
particularly in Russia, who are now actually without the 
protection of the law; finally, we must increase considerably 
the number of our fellow countrymen able to bear arms; all 
these matters require an important extension of the frontier 
of the empire and of Prussia toward the east through the 
annexation of at least some parts of the Baltic provinces 
and of territories to the south of them, while keeping in 
view the necessity of a mihtary defense of the eastern German 
frontier. * * * 

^^ As to what political rights to give to the inhabitants of 
the new territories and as to what guaranties are necessary 
to further German influence and industrial life, we will 
merely refer to what we have said about France. Tlie war 
indemnity to be exacted from Russia should^ to a large extent, 
consist in the surrender of territory J' 

Petition of the Six Industrial Associations to the Imperial Chan- 
cellor, May 20, 1915. [G. 126-27.] These associations were the 
League of Agriculturists, the German Peasant League, The Com- 
mittee of the Christian German Peasant Union, The Central Associa- 
tion of German Industrialists, the League of the Industrialist 
and the Conservative Middle Class Association. The influence of 
these great business and farming organizations can hardly be over- 
estimated. 



''The lands we shall demand from Russia must be extensive 
enough to maintain permanently all Roumanians, even those 
of Austria and Turkey, in Bessarabia and to the northeast 
of Bessarabia, * * * as subjects of King Charles. This 
policy is somewhat Assyrian, but there is no other way. The 
Germans are a peaceful people, but they are convinced that 
they have a right to live as Germans and that they have a 
mission for aU nations of the earth." 

Paul de Lagarde, Deutsche Schriften (1878), 1891, p. 391. 



^^So long, then, as the sun still shines on us it must be ou? 
purpose to enter the first class of the economic world group 
powers. This involves the adhesion of the other Central 
European States and nations. Except to our comrades of 

12726°— 17 5 



66 CONQUEST AND KULTTJK. 

German race living in Austria and Hungary, it is indeed of 
no special direct interest to these peoples that we Germans 
should sit in the upper council of universal history. It is 
not to be expected of them that they should share our his- 
torical sentiments, since there beats within them a heart of 
another race and of different stuff. They will put the ques- 
tion to themselves from their own point of view, whether 
in the choice of German, Russian, or EngUsh leadership they 
wish to belong to the German world union or not. * * * 
Hence sooner or later they must decide with which union 
they will or can range themselves, according to geographical 
position, production, or mental leanings. This is a harsh 
necessity, a heavy fate, but it is the overpowering tendency 
of the age, the categorical imperative of human evolution." 
F. Naumann, Central Europe, 19161, p. 194. 



'*A vital Mid-Europe needs agrarian territories on its 
boundaries and must make the accession easy and desirable 
to them. It needs, if possible, an extension of its northern 
and southern seacoasts; it needs its share in over-sea colo- 
nial possessions. But how can all this be talked of now with- 
out getting involved in inconclusive discussions of neutrality 
or in the coming negotiations at the peace congress 2 * * * 

"And who is prepared to say where the future Central 
European trench-made boundaries will run? Whether they 
wiU pass on the inner or the outer side of Roumania, or on 
this or that side of Bessarabia? Whether they will follow 
the Vistula or not ? Whether Bulgaria is to be included in 
the Central European sphere of interest or not? Whether 
or not we shall secure a Hne of railways to Constantinople in 
the trusty hands of aUies? What Mediterranean seaports 
will come into consideration as the starting point of Central 
European railway lines? What will become of Antwerp? 
How the Baltic Sea will appear after the war ? Thus there 
are a hundred questions which will stiU remain to be an- 
swered. * * * Their answer wiU be essentially affected 
according to whether the German-Austrian union is at bot- 
tom something that is desired and determined upon or not. 
Here and here only is the birthplace of Mid-Europe." 
Naumann, Central Europe, 1916, pp. 198-199. 



SECTION VIII. 
EXPANSION TO THE SOUTHEAST. 



In this nineteenth century, when Germany has become 
the first power in the world, are we iticapahle of doing what 
our ancestors did ? Germany must lay Tier mighty grasp upon 
Asia Minor. * * * 

" The Turk has lost his rights, not only from the moral but 
also from the strictly legal point of view. At the Congress 
of Berlin in 1878 he gave undertakings, not one of which he 
has kept. His claims are nullified. 

[All Europe may be set ablaze.] '^But if the health and 
life of Germany require this mortal and terrible remedy, let 
us not hesitate to apply it; so be it. God is the judge. I 
accept the awful responsibility. * * * God never for- 
sakes a good German." 

"Amicus Patriae," Armenien und Kreta, eine Lebensfrage fur 
Deutschland, 1896, pp. 13, 15, 16. [A., p. 39.] These words regard- 
ing the present ally of Germany make strange reading now. 



"The right and left banks of the Danube from Presbm^gto 
its mouth, the northern Provinces of Turkey, and the west 
coast of the Black Sea, do they not offer large tiacts of land, 
naturally fertile and as yet unexploited, to German emi- 
grants?" 

F. List, Sammtliche Schriften 1850, II, 209. List was a German 
economist (1789-1846). He advocated in his writings nationalism, 
protectionism, and a commercial union with Austria. His writings 
are much quoted to-day by Pan-Germans and by the advocates 
of Middle Europe, many of whom look upon him as the founder 
of the movement. 



''All weakening of German national energy by pacifist 
associations or analogous activities reinforces the formidably 
increasing power of those who rule to-day from the Cape to 



68 CONQUEST AND KULTUR. 

Cairo, from Ceylon to the Polar Sea. * * * U"o truce 
with England. Let our policy be a national policy. 

^^This must be the mainspring of our action in the eastern 
question. This is the fundamental reason which necessi- 
tates onr political indifference to the sufferings of Christians 
in the Turkish Empire, painful as these must be to our 
private feelings. If Turkey were disintegrated to-day, the 
fragments of her empire would become the sport of the great 
powers, and we should be left with nothing, as has happened 
so often in the past. We must retard the catastrophe. Let 
Turkey have any constitution she likes, so long as she can keep 
herself afloat a while longer. 

^^ Bismarck taught us to make a distinction between our 
foreign policy and our domestic poHcy. The same thing 
applies to the Christian missions. As Christians we desire 
the propagation of the faith by which we are saved. But it 
is not the task of our pohcy to concern itself with Christian 
missions. 

"The truth here, as elsewhere, is that we must find out 
which is the greatest and morally the most important task. 
When the choice has been made, there must be no tergiver- 
sation. William II has made his choice; he is the friend of 
the Padisha, because he believes in a greater Germany. * * * 

"Imagine a few firm, rigid, incorruptible officials at the 
head of a temtory like Palestine scouring the country on 
horseback with European promptitude. They would be as 
much abused as satan, but as useful as angels. * * * 

"A sort of amicable dictatorship would be set up, which 
would often address Turkey as the bird of the proverb was 
addressed, 'Eat or die.' * * * Meanwhile Germans would 
be settling upon aU the shores of the Mediterranean. Good 
luck to you, my brethren. Work hard. Bestir yourselves. 
The old sea will yet behold many things. You hold in your 
hands a morsel of Germany's future life." 

Friedrich Naumann, Asia, 1899, pp. 145, 148, 162, 163. [A., pp. 
41-42.] The force of this doctrine of political indifference to 
Turiiish atrocities is more evident when we recall th^t Naumann 
was a pastor of the German church. 



CONQUEST A2^D KULTTJR. 69 

^'If, notwithstanding Damascus and Tangier, we abandon 
Morocco we lose at one blow our position in Turkey, and 
with it the advantages and prospects for the future which 
we have acquired painfully by years of toil.'' 

Marscliall von Bieberstein, German Ambassador to Tm*key, to von 
Billow, quoted in von Biilow, Imperial Germany (1913), 1914, 
pp. 84-85. Von Biilow declared that it was upon his advice that 
the Emperor went to Tangier in 1906. 



''New lands for our peasants, the preservation of German- 
ism within the Danubian monarchy itself, the unification of 
the whole German race, an open door in the southeast and 
an open road for Germanism to pursue its paths as of old, 
protection of the non-Slav peoples of the southeast against 
pan-Slavism — ^in short, 'Berlin-Bagdad'; this phrase in 
which all those things are included must be our watchword." 

Karl von Winterstetten, Berlin-Bagdad, Neue Ziele mitteleuro- 
paischer Politik, 1913, p. 52. See note, p. 27. 



'^ Every day makes it clearer Tiow ineradicahly established 
is one of the frizes of victory won hy the Central Powers: 
it consists in the linking up with the nearer East. The 
vast territory from Belgrade to Constantinople, Bagdad, and 
beyond can never again be torn from its political, miUtary, 
and economic connections with central Europe. Whatever 
the fate of Poland and Belgium, Constantinople and Sofia 
are safe from subjection; Serbia and Roumania can do us no 
further harm. And this even Wilson, to whom so much of 
the course of things in Europe is iQcomprehensible, will come 
to understand in time." 

Dr. Heinrich Friedjung in Vossische Zeitung, Feb. 14, 1917. H. 
Friedjung is the leading Austrian historian and a strong advocate 
of close political and economic alliance between Austria and 
Germany. 



THE MENACE OP THE BAGDAD PLAN. 

The Bagdad Railway was part of the splendid scheme to erect a German 
Empire in the southeast. In that project German statesmen found them- 
selves crossed by the British Government, when it took possession of 
Ko-weit at the head of the Persian Gulf. To Germans Britain, with her 
possessions in every sea, seemed acting the part of the dog in the manger. 



70 COIirQXJEST AND KULTUR. 

Whatever opinion may be held about this, it is certain that their scheme 
was more than a plan for expansion; it was a plot against the British Empire. 
The following quotations could be paralleled by scores of the same kind. 
If that were not enough, they could be supported by the revelations of 
German intrigue in Egypt and India to stir up sedition in those countries. 
When the Kaiser, in 1898, declared himself the friend of three hundred 
million Moslems he gave the lead for the policy which his many agents in 
the East were paid to follow . 



'^The new situation shortly to be created in Asia Minor 
would hasten the break-up of the British Empire, which was 
already beginning to totter." 

Leipziger Volkszeitung, March, 191L S. S. McClure, Obstacles 
to Peace, 1917, p. 13. 



"To some extent, indeed, Turkey's construction of a 
railway system is a threat to England, for it means that an 
attack on the most vulnerable part of the body of England's 
world empire, namely, Egypt, comes well within the bounds 
of possibihty.'' 

R. Mangelsdorf in the Akademische Blatter, June 1, 1911. S. S. 
McClure, Obstacles to Peace, 1917, p. 14. 



"The strengthening of German Imperiahsm, the first 
success of which, attained with so much effort, is the Bagdad 
Railway; the victory of the Revolutionary party in Turkey; 
the prospect of a modern revolutionary movement in 
India * * * all this has raised to an extraordinary 
degree the pohtical significance of the Bagdad Railway 
question." 

Karl Radek, in Die Neue Zeit, June, 1911. 



"The prospect of a German invasion of England is a 
fantastic dream * * *. It is necessary to discover another 
combination in order to hit England in a vulnerable spot — and 
here we come to the point where the relationship of Germany 
to Turlcey, and the conditions prevaiUng in Turkey, become 
of decisive importance for German foreign policy, based as it 
now is upon watchfulness in the direction of England. 



CONQUEST AND KULTUR. 71 

England can be attacked and mortally wounded by land 
from Europe only in one place — Egypt. Tbe loss of Egypt 
would mean for England not only the end of her dominion 
over the Suez Canal and of her connections with India and 
the Far East, but would probably entail also the loss of her 
possessions in Central and East Africa. The conquest of 
Egypt by a Mohammedan power Uke Turkey would also 
imperil England's hold over her sixty million Mohammedan 
subjects in India, besides prejudicing her relations with 
Afghanistan and Persia." 

Paul Rohrbach, Die Bagdadbahn, 1911. S. S. McClure, Obstacles 
to Peace, 1917, p. 19. Rohrbach is a traveler and a very popular 
writer on colonial and foreign politics. His best known works, 
Deutschland unter den Weltvolkern (1911) and German World 
Policies (1912, trans. 1915), develop the theory of the mission of 
German kultur. Rohrbach signed the " Delbriick-Dernburg peti- 
tion." See note, p. 59. See his suggestion, pp. 156-157. 



*^As early as the beginning of the new century people 
talked openly, with a triumph which far anticipated events 
of the railway which would threaten India and render 
possible a Turkish invasion of Egypt * * *. In this 
direction we have made great mistakes which were in no 
way necessary. TJie more quietly the Bagdad Railway was 
huilt tlie tetter J ^ 

Count von Reventlow, Deutschlands Auswartige Politik, (1914), 
ed., 1916, p. 340. 



SECTION IX. 
SUBORDINATION OF FRANCE. 



^' In the first place, our political position would be con- 
siderably consolidated if we could finally get rid of the 
standing danger that France will attack us on a favorable 
occasion, so soon as we find ourselves involved in comphca- 
tions elsewhere. In one way or another we must square our 
account with France if we wish for a free hand in our inter- 
national policy. This is the first and foremost condition of 
a sound German policy, and since the hostility of France 
once for all can not be removed by peaceful overtures, the 
matter must be settled by force of arms. France must be 
so completely crushed that she can never again come across 
our path." 

F, von Bernhardi, Germany and the Next War (1911), trans. 1914, 
pp. 105-106. For similar demands see pp. 58, 167. 



''Whatever Providence may hold in reserve for Germany 
it is on France that will faU the task of paying the costs, 
but in another measure than 44 years ago. It will be no 
paltry five bilhons they will have to pay to ransom them- 
selves, but perhaps thirty. Tlie Holy Mother of God at 
Lourdes wiU have much to do if she undertalces, even through 
miracles, the taslc of healing aU the hones that our soldiers wiU 
hreak in the hodies of the unfortunate inhabitants on the other 
side of the Vosges, Poor France! There is yet time for her 
to change her plans, but in a few hours it will be too late. 
Then France will receive blows that will be remembered for 
many generations." 

National-Zeitung, July 31, 1914. Quoted by Dampierre, L'Alle- 
magne et le droit des gens, 1915, p. 105. 



[Speaking of France in the event of a war :] ' ' The victorious 
German people will be in a position to demand that the 

72 



CONQUEST AND KULTTJE. 73 

menace of the French forever cease. France then must be 
crushed. We must demand further that so much of French 
soil be ceded to us as w© shall need for final security. Then 
will he the time to consider the evacuation of which we have 
spoken. We would finally take such of her colonial posses- 
sions as we need," etc. 

Daniel Frymann: Wenn ich der Kaiser ware (1911), 2l8t ed., 1914, 
p. 152. 



^^For the sake qf our own existence we must rutJilessly weaken 
her [France] both politically and economically, and must im- 
prove our military and strategical position with regard to her. 
For this purpose in our opinion it is necessary radically to 
improve our whole western front from Belfort to the coast. 
Part of the North French Channel coast we must acquire, if 
possible, in order to be strategically safer as regards England 
and to secure better access to the ocean. 

^'Special measures must be taken to keep the German 
Empire from suffering internally in any way owing to this 
enlargement of its frontier and addition to its territory. In 
order not to have conditions such as those in Alsace-Lor- 
raine, the most important business undertakings and estates 
must be transferred from anti-German ownership to German 
hands, France talcing over and compensating the former owners. 
Such portion of the population as is taken over by us must 
be allowed absolutely no influence in the Empire. 

'^ Furthermore, it is necessary to impose a mercilessly high 
war indemnity (of which more hereafter) upon France, and 
probably on her rather than on any otJi^r of our enemies, 
however terrible the fiinancial losses she may have already 
suffered owing to her own folly and British self-seeking. 
We must also not forget that she has comparatively large 
colonial possessions, and that, should circumstances arise, 
England could hold on to these with impunity if we do not 
help ourselves to them." 

Confidential petition of the German Professors and other Intel- 
lectuals (June 20, 1915) [G., p. 134]. Among the signatories are 
Friedrich Meinecke, professor of history , Berlin; Hermann Oncken, 
professor of history, Heidelberg; HeiT von Reichenau, retired diplo- 
mat; Herr von Schwerin, Regierungs-prasident, of Frankfurt-on-Main; 
and Dietrich Schafer, professor of history, Berlin. This document, 



74 CONQUEST AND KULTTJR. 

the other parts of which are equally harsh, was signed by 352 pro- 
fessors, 158 educators and clergymen, 145 administrative officials, 
182 business men, 252 artists, writers, etc.; in all by 1,352 men of 
position. It breathes the same predatory spirit as the Manifesto of 
the Industrialists. 



''We can secure Germany's position on the continent of 
Europe only if we succeed in smashing the Triple Entente, 
in humiliating France, and giving her that position to which 
she is entitled, as we can not arrive at an agreement for 
mutual cooperation with her.'' 

F. von Bemhardi, Britain as Germany's Vassal (1912), trans. 1914, 
p. 207. 



'' If the fortress of Longwy with the numerous blast fur- 
naces of the region were returned to the French, then when a 
new war broke out, the German and Luxemburg furnaces 
[list of which is given] would be paralyzed in short order 
by a few long-range guns. Thus about 20 per cent of the 
production of crude iron and of German steel would be 
lost. * * * 

''Let us say, by the by, that the high production of steel 
derived from the iron ore gives to German agriculture the 
only chance of obtaining the phosphoric acid needed when 
the importation of the phosphates is blockaded. 

''The security of the German Empire, in a future war, re- 
quires therefore imperatively the ownership of all mines of 
iron ore, including the fortresses of Longwy and of Verdun, 
which are necessary to defend the region." 

Manifesto of the Six Industrial Associations to the Imperial 
Chancellor. [G., pp. 129-30.] See note, p. 65. 



"We need a new international law. For a name we need 
not seek. We may caU it EngUsh sea law. Treaties of 
peace must be framed so as to be more effective. If we Tiad 
driven out the resisting Alsatians * * * and appor- 
tioned the land to our gallant soldiers as settlers we should 
not he vexed to-day with their Frenchiness, If in 1871 we 
had taken the whole district of the Meuse and Moselle, 



COl^QUEST AND KULTTJB. 75 

chased out the mhabitants, settled the land anew, and taken 
from France not 5 billions but 25, we should not have 
been face to face with another war with her in 1878. Such 
a loss would have robbed France for all time of the power to 
reenforce the number of our enemies/' 

Tannenberg, Gross-Deutschland : die Arbeit des 20teii Jahrhunderts 
1911, p. 84. 



^^ We are in a position to offer the French more than any- 
other power could offer them; guaranties for a great African 
empire ; the possibility of reducing expenditure on the army, 
and devoting the surplus to shipbuilding, a safer and better 
mvestment for their capital than the stock of the eastern 
States of Europe; organizers of industry and commercial 
agents. On the other hand, we could take a great deal from 
them; not only 20 milliards but ancient Carlovingian and 
Burgundian lands, fertile colonies, and freedom of move- 
m.ent in that Mediterranean which a German Gibraltar near 
Toulon would transform into a prison.'' 

Maximilian Harden, Znkunft, Aug. 19, 1911, p. 249. 



''In the same way, in the case of a new victpry over 
France, strategical reasons alone would make it certain that 
some territories would be annexed; and in the same way it 
is safe to predict that France would be compelled to com- 
pensate and to receive within her own frontiers all those in- 
habitants of these territories who, for historical and ancestral 
reasons, do not wish to become German citizens. The future 
of the nations is not bound up with the domination and ex- 
ploitation of neighboring countries, but with the occupation 
and settlement of as large and self-contained areas as pos- 
sible, just as that has been their Hfe principle in the past." 

Der Reicbsbote, Jan. 7, 1913 [N., p. 26]. 



" It [the prospect of war] is entertained without emotion. 
TJie profits are calculated — the annihilation of France, an 
indemnity of war amounting to twenty-five milliards because 
it is remembered that last time you paid up too easily — and 



76 CONQUEST AND KULTTJR. 

then we shall rub our hands. You smile! That is because 
you don't know what Germany is to-day. It is a nation of 
shopkeepers; love of gain is its ruling passion; to earn money, 
to get rich quickly, is its one ideal." 

Herr Kerr, in an interview with Georges Bourdon. The German 
Enigma, 1914, p. 166. Kerr is a German, editor of the review. Pan. 
Bourdon, a Frenchman, visited Germany in 1912 to learn from 
prominent Germans their views of Franco-German relations. 



' 'Assuredly nothing is eternal here below. No one can tell 
if such and such a State will be able eternally to hold its 
trans-Atlantic possessions. France lost its immense colonial 
empire in the eighteenth century; it has reconstituted in the 
last decades a second one. One may indeed say that the 
Gallic cock has taken quite too much of the African sands. 
* * * France holds more territories than she can admin- 
ister. Her work in Algeria and in equatorial Africa is 
wretched. One can say the same of France as of Belgium, 
to wit, that some day they must renounce a part of their 
possessions. 

Kolnische Zeitung, May 9, 1914. The Kolnische Zeitung is re- 
puted to be in close connection with the German Government. 



SECTION X. 
SEA POWER AND COLONIAL EXPANSION. 



'^ In order to assure to our people the horizon which girdles 
the earth, colonies and sea power are indispensable." 

From a telegram sent to Von Reichenau, chairman of the Verein 
fiir Deutschtum im Ausland, May 2, 1916, by Grand Admiral A^on 
Tirpitz. [G. p. 25.] 

''It is quite conceivable that a country without colonies 
may cease to rank as a great European power, however 
strong it may be. Therefore, we must never become rigid 
as a purely continental poHcy must make us, but see to it 
that the outcome of our next successful war must he tJie 
acquisition of colonies hy any possible means ^ 
Treitschke, Politics, 1916, I, p. 119. 



' ' Tlie first and most important of all tJie national dewMnds 
whicli we sJiaU Jiave to malce when the time comes for the 
signing of peace must he a demand for a very large colonial 
empire, a German India. The empire must be so big that 
it is capable of conducting its own defense in case of war." 

Hans Delbriick, Bismarcks Erbe, 1915, p. 202 et seq. Del- 
briick is Treitscke's successor as prof essor of histoiy in Berlin and 
editor of the Preussische Jahrbiicher. He is a sharp critic of the 
Pan-Germans whose plans, he holds, alarmed the United States and 
brought her into the Tvar. See p. 100; also note, p. 59; and pp. 78-79. 



" All that was before the Serajevo murder. People also 
concerned themselves, of course, with the Austrian prob- 
lems, but confined themselves mostly to critical remarks 
against the pro-Slavic policy of the Austrian Government. 
The ' premature death ' of Francis Ferdinand was called, to 
be sure, the 'most important event since Bismarck's dis- 
missal, perhaps even since the days of Versailles.' But 

77 



78 CONQUEST AND KULTUK. 

this crime was by no means important in the Pan-German 
agitation, especially as there seemed to be uncertainty as to 
the course that Austria would pursue. Tlie necessity for a 
world war was looTced upon from the start as a western 
European question, having to do with the acquisition of 
colonies hy Germany." 

Kurt Eisner, The Pan-German Society, New York Times Current 
History, VI, p. 678. Eisner is a writer and socialist. This article 
first appeared in Die Neue Zeit, April 23, 1915. 



" Where does the great aim lie which we must ^ for our- 
selves; or, to put it better, what is the exalted wish at the 
fulfillment of which we must aim whep. the fiijial victory has 
been granted to us ? It can only lie overseas. The greater 
our victory, the greater must our colonial empire become. 
Assumijig that, whether by our land victories or by the 
submarine war, we had reduced Englajid to such aji extent 
that, in spite of the help of America, she renounced the con- 
tinuatioji of the war and was ready to recognize our direct 
or indirect dominatioji over Belgium, we should still have 
to say — ^not Belgium, but Africa; jiot the coal area of Char- 
leroi, but Nigeria; not Zeebriigge, but the Azores, Madeira, 
apd Cape Verde Islands; not Antwerp, but Lagos, Zanzibar, 
ajid Uganda, and Gibraltar for Spain. Not ecojiomic ad-* 
vajitages and the forced impositiop. of treaties of commerce, 
but a war indemnity in cash or raw materials. 

" Nope of our allies has any interest in Germany winning 
Belgium. The interest of Austria-Hungary is, indeed, the 
opposite, because Austria-Hungary cap. not desire the Ger- 
map Empire, although it is an aUy, to achieve the hegemony 
of Europe. On the other hand, Turkey has a very strong 
and direct interest, and Austria-Hungary at least an indi- 
rect interest, in Germany winning a great colonial empire in 
Africa; Austria-Hungary an indirect interest, because the 
economic advaptages, the supply of raw materials, which a 
colonial empire guarantees, wOl benefit Austria also. If our 
victory is great enough, we can hope to unite under our hand 
the whole of Central Africa with our old colony of Southwest 
Africa; Sepegambia, Sierra Leope, the Gold Coast, Dahomey, 
weU-populated Nigeria with the port of Lagos, Cameroop, 



CONQUEST AND KULTUB. 79 

the rich islands of San Thorn o and Principe with their splen- 
did ports, the Kantajiga ore district, Northern Rhodesia, 
Nyasaland/ Mozambique and Delagoa Bay, Madagascar, 
German East Africa, Zanzibar, and Uganda; and in addi- 
tion the great port of Ponta Delgada in the Azores, one of 
the most important and most-frequented coaling stations, 
and Horta, one of the most important centers of the trans- 
Atlantic cable system. At present the Azores belong to 
Portugal, which is at war with Germany; Portugal also o^vns 
the Cape Verde Islands, with the port of Porto Grande, one 
of the most frequented coaling stations in the eastern 
Atlantic. 

''All these territories together have over 100,000,000 inhabi- 
tants. United in a single ownership, and with their various 
characteristics supplementing one another, they offer simply 
immeasurable prospects. They are rich in natural treasures, 
rich in possibihties of settlement and trade, and rich in men 
who can work and also be used in war. To demand them 
is not unjust and does not offend against the principle of 
equihbriiun, since Germany would thus only be obtaining a 
colonial empire such as England and Russia, France and 
America have long possessed." 

Delbriick in the Preussische Jahrbticher, quoted in the London 
Times, July 25, 1917 See note above, p. 77. 



'' Our existence as a State of the first rank is vitally affected 
by the question whether we can become a power beyond the 
seas. If not, there remains the appalling prospect of Eng- 
land and Russia dividing the world between them, and in 
such a case it is hard to say whether the Russian knout or 
the Enghsh moneybags would be the worse alternative." 
Treitschke, Politics, 1916, I, pp. 33-34. 



**Away from the Continent, on the great theater of the 
world, where our interests have grown a thousandfold and 
are necessarily striking root ever more widely as a result of 
our rapid increase in population, only a strong fleet is able 
to give us permanently such a secure and respected position 
[as we have on the Continent because of our army]. May 



80 CONQUEST AND KULTUR. 

we not neglect the opportunity to develop our naval power 
to such a pitch that not only we may assert our will as 
against countries like China with vigor such as is used by 
peoples with whom we think ourselves otherwise equal, but 
that we may also hinder by fear of our home fleet every one of 
our competitors, even the mightiest, from arbitrary meddling 
with German commercial development — from every insult 
to our German flag." 

Hermann Schumacher, in Handels- und Machtpolitik, 1900, II, 
245. Hermann Schumacher is professor of political economy at the 
University of Bonn. About China, see pp. 156-57. 



" The Germap. people is of one mind with its prixices 
and its Emperor in the feeling that in its powerful develop- 
ment it must set up a new houndary post and create a great 
fleet which will correspond to its jieeds. 

'^ Just as Emperor William the Great created the weapon 
by whose help we became agaiji blacky white, and red, so 
the German people is now lending its efforts to forging the 
weapon through which, God wilhng, and in all eterjiity, it 
will remain black, white, and red.'' 

Kaiser's speech, Berlin, Feb. 13, 1900. Christian Gauss, p. 158. 
The Kaiser often refers to his grandfather, William I, as "the Great." 
The weapon alluded to here is the increase in the size of the army 
which Bismarck, in defiance of the constitution and in spite of an 
adverse majority in the Diet, succeeded in maintaining in 1862-1866, 



^ 



SECTION XI. 
THE LOST TEUTONIC TRIBES. 



''The German Empire has become a world empire. Every- 
where in distant quarters of the earth thousands of our 
countrymen are living. German guardians, German science, 
German industry, are going across the sea. The value of 
what Germany has upon the seas amounts to thousands of 
millions. It is your earnest duty, gentlemen, to Jielp hind 
tJiis greater German Empire firmly to our ancestral Jiome. 
The vow which I made you to-day can become truth only 
if you are animated by a united, patriotic spirit and grant 
me your fullest support. It is my wish that, standing in 
closest union, you help me do my duty not only to my coun- 
trymen in a narrower sense, hut also to the many thousands 
of countrymen in foreign lands. This means that I may he 
ahle to protect them, if I must. It is with this wish, and 
deeply conscious of the injunction which is issued to us aU — 
'What you have inherited from yoiu* fathers, conquer it in 
order that you may possess it' — that I raise my glass to our 
beloved German Fatherland and call out: 'Long live the 
German Empire ! ' " 

Kaiser's speech, Berlin, June 16, 1896, Gauss, pp. 102-103. 



" The German Empire has suffered great losses of territory 
in the storms and struggles of the past. The Germany of 
to-day, considered geographically, is a multilated torso of 
the old dominion of the emperors; it comprises only a frac- 
tion of the German peoples. A large number of German 
fellow countrjHuen have been incorporated into other States, 
or live in political independence, like the Dutch, who have 
developed into a separate nationality, but in language and 
national customs cannot deny their German ancestry. 
Germany has been robbed of her natural boundaries; even 

12726°— 17 5 81 



82 CON-QUEST AND KULTUR. 

the source and mouth of the most characteristically German 
stream, the much lauded German Rhine, lie outside the 
German territory. On the eastern frontier, too, where the 
strength of the modem German Empire grew up in centuries 
of war against the Slavs, the possessions of Germany are 
menaced." 

F. von Bemhardi, Germany and the Next War (1911), trans. 
1914, p. 76. 



^'Lilce hrolcen-qff fragments from the waU of an old fort lie on 
tJie west side of Germany, Switzerland, Luxemhurg, Belgium, 
arid Holland. In their present position, they are all products 
of the nineteenth century." 

J. Partsch, Mitteleuropa, 1904, p. 181. See note above, p. 62. 



''When our brothers of the low- German race shall have 
gotten over their almost childish fright at 'annexation by 
the Prussians' they will acknowledge that the admission 
of Holland into Greater Germany is advantageous to both 
parties. [Moreover, in the bosom of Greater Germany, the 
Dutch would be able to preserve, to a reasonable extent, 
their own peculiar characteristics] * * *. 

" If the Rhine from its source to its mouth becomes a truly 
German river, it will then be the Low-German or Dutch 
commercial towns and seaports near its mouth which will 
chiefly benefit thereby." 

Grossdeutschland und Mitteleuropa um das Jahr 1950 (1893), 
1895, p. 13. This was issued anonymously by a "Pan-German." 



[Speaking of the present sentiments of the Belgians and 
the Dutch, and their probable preferences:] "One may count 
on it that both countries, given a choice between Germany 
on the one hand and England and France on the other, 
would take England and France; would repeat the error, 
then, of Hanover, Hesse, and Nassau in the time of the 
Austro-Prussian War of 1866. They should not be surprised 
if the consequences are the same.'' 

Daniel Frymann, Wenn ich der Kaiser ware (1913), 21st ed., 1914, 
p. 154. 



CONQUEST AND KULTTJR. 83 

''As for Belgium and Holland, it must be clear to both that 
this [coming] war will determine their future. As matters 
in Europe have come to a head, one may freely avow that 
such little States have lost their right to exist. For only 
that State can make a claim to independence which can 
make it good, sword in hand." 

Daniel Frymann, Wenn ich der Kaiser ware (1911), 21st ed., 1914, 
p. 153. 



Holland is to-day in the position of the beggar contenting 
himself with the crumbs that fall from the rich man's table. 
The tendency of Great Britain, France, and Russia to be- 
come self-supporting powers must gradually impoverish 
Holland and in time drive her into the arms of Germany 
or expose her to the rapaciousness of imperialistic empires. 
Holland is no longer desirable as a military ally, having 
nothing to offer in return. The more Germany develops her 
canal system the more the Dutch ports will lose their trade. 
But Germany 4s in the position' to dictate terms and to 
force Holland, economically, to seek union and absorption. 
Holland can form an alliance with Germany of a precisely 
opposite nature to the ill-fated alliance she formerly con- 
tracted with Spain. Of course, Germany would have the 
casting vote in things political, but otherwise Holland would 
retain a large amount of independence. Germany must aim 
at an economic rapprochement, but she can afford to wait^ 
and need be in no hurry to precipitate matters. In case of 
war Germany could not be expected to regard the Dutch 
ports as 'neutral' and refrain from making use of them. 
Holland must be aware of that, as also of the martial spuit 
that has distinguished the Hohenzollerns from the days 
when their gun called 'Lazy Peg' (faule Grete) battered 
down the old fastness of Friesach. Germany, to make a long 
story short, if put to it, 'Far a da se' : Holland must eventu- 
ally be amalgamated with Germany, as both countries stand 
and fall together; the same language, ideals, and ideas 
distinguish both peoples, who must be one. 

Grenzboten, July 25, Aug. 1, Aug. 8, 1901. [Summarized in P. G. D. , 
pp. 110-111.] 



84 OOI^QUEST AND KULTXJB. 

^' If Belgium, as we hope and as the Belgians hope, is to be 
divided after the war between Germany and France, vast 
portions of the Belgian and French Congo will have to be 
included in Germany's colonial empire, which we would 
then complete by the acquisition of British East Africa and 
Uganda, in exchange for Kiau Chau, New Guinea, and the 
Australasian Islands. Such an empire could easily be 
defended from the sea, and it would have to be considered 
whether we could not exchange Togoland, which is isolated, 
for Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Germany would 
then have a colonial empire worthy of her enterprising spirit, 
and it would yield us all the raw material we need. 

Baron Albrecht von Rechenberg in Nord nnd Siid. [Round 
Table, March, 1917.] Rechenberg has been in the foreign office and 
has held various colonial appointments. 



"Because it is needful to insure our credit on sea and our 
military and economic situation for the future in face of 
England, because the Belgian territory, which is of the 
greatest economic importance, is closely linked to our prin- 
cipal industrial territory, Belgium must be subjected to the 
legislation of the Empire in monetary, financial, and postal 
matters. Her railways and her water courses must be closely 
connected with our communications. By constituting a 
Walloon territory and a Flemish territory with a prepon- 
derance of the Flemish, and by putting into German hands 
the properties and the economic undertakings which are 
^of vital importance for dominating the country, we shall 
organize the Government and the administration in such a 
manner that the inhabitants will not be able to acquire any 
influence over the political destiny of the German Empire." 

Memorial sent to the Imperial Chancellor, May 20, 1915, by six in- 
dustrial associations — the League of Agriculturists, the German Peas- 
ants' League, the Committee of the Christian German Peasant Union, 
the Central Association of German Industrialists, the League of 
Industrialists, and the Conservative Middle Class Association. [G. 
p. 125.] See note, p. 65. 



Professor Ernst von Halle speaks definitely of the necessity of 
incorporating Holland on the one hand and Austria and the 



CONQUEST AND KULTUE. 85 

Balkans on tlie other, because it is an Tinnatural thing that 
Germany should not possess the mouths of the great rivers, 
the Rhine and the Danube, which take their rise within her 
borders. Belgium should be partitioned between Germany 
and France. Later he complains of the Dutch profiting at 
the expense of the Germans in their customs arrangements, 
and of the dangers to Germany involved in the possession 
of the mouth of the Rhine by a people so easily a prey to 
her enemies. 

Volks-und Seewirtschaft, 1902, II, pp. 1-8. Ernst von Halle was 
professor of political economy at the University of Berlin. 



' ' You can not talk and sing ahout an invincihle Watch on 
tlie Rhine as long as the Dutch and the Swiss do not sing 
the same tune.'' 

Bley, Die alldeutsche Bewegung und die Niederlande, 1897, p. 4. 



'' We may then leave it to Switzerland to choose whether she 
shall enter the German customs union and the Pan-German 
confederation, bringing all her cantons or only the German 
ones with her, or whether she shall form part of the German 
Empire on equal terms as a Federal State." 

Grossdeutschland urn das Jahr 1950 (1893), 1895, p. 17. 



'' To speak quite frankly: Austria will assent finally to 
that shifting of the weight of gravity which took place in 
1866. She will renounce all future claim to be the chief 
ruling power in Central Europe, as she was in her ancient 
days of splendor. There is no formal dependence involved, 
no curtailing of sovereignty, no giving up of inherited 
power, but all the same there will be an actual acknowledg- 
ment of the existing position of forces." 
Naumann, Central Europe, 1916, p. 61. 



** *Laiid, more land,' is tlie old battle cry whicL. has rever- 
berated without ceasing thronghoiit the ages of German 
history from prehistoric times to the present. * * * ^ 



86 CONQUEST AND KULTUR. 

nation which tries to acquire land exclusively by peaceful 
means cannot hope for success or for permanent possession in 
the general struggle for ^a place in the sun/ but is usually 
rewarded by ingratitude and doomed to perish. The des- 
perate situation of the Germans in the Slav and Magyar 
countries and, we should like to add, the disappearance, 
which is going on slowly but surely, of the German strain 
in the Anglo-Saxon States, in North America, in South 
Africa, and Australia, impress the fact upon our minds that 
it is not sufficient to further 'kultur' exclusively by peace- 
ful means. Such efforts are misjudged and resisted, if those 
who are trying to introduce or to further 'kultur' are 
simple and indifferent enough to let the proper time go by 
for achieving racial imion and for asserting themselves in 
the political world, if need be, by the use of arm.ed force. 
* * * Therefore it is also a national duty to fight 
against our worst enemies; that is to say, against the racial 
indifference and the political immaturity of the Germans in 
the minds of old and young alike, by spreading informa- 
tion by tongue and pen in schools and associations." 

From a review of Karl ToUe, "Das Deutschtum im Ausland, " in 
the Deutsche Welt, weekly supplement of the Berliner Neueste 
Nachrichten, Mar. 29, 1913. [N., p. 21.] 



^^In the interest of the world's civilization it is our duty 
to enlarge Germany's colonial empire. Thus alone can we 
politically, or at least nationally, unite the Germans through- 
out the world, for only then will they recognize that German 
civilization is the most necessary factor in human progress. 
We must endeavor to acquire new territories throughout 
the world by all means in our power, because we must 
f reserve to Germany the millions oj Germans who will he horn 
in the future, and we rnust provide for them food and employ- 
ment. They ought to he enabled to live under a German slcy, 
and to lead a German life. " 

F. von Bernhardi, Britain as Germany's Vassal (1912), trans. 
1914, p. 83. 



SECTION XII. 
DISPOSSESSING THE CONQUERED. 



*' Germans alone will govern * * * they alone wiU 
exercise political rights; they alone will serve in the army 
and in the navy; they alone will have the right to become 
landowners; thus they wUl acquire the conviction that, as in 
the Middle Ages, the Germans are a 'people of rulers. How- 
ever, they will condescend so Jar as to delegate inferior taslcs 
to foreign subjects who live among them. 

Grossdeutschland und Mtteleuropa um das Jahr 1950 (1893), 
1895, p. 48. See note, p 82. 



" If we take, we must also keep. A foreign territory is not 
incorporated until the day when the rights of property of 
Germans are rooted in its soil. With all necessary prudence, 
but also with iafiexible determination, a process of expro- 
priation should he inaugurated, hy which the Poles and the 
Alsatians and Lorrainers would he gradually transported to 
the interior of the Empire, while Germans would replace them 
on the frontiers.''^ 

Friedrich Lange, Reines Deutschtum, 1904, p. 207. [A., pp. 
24-25.] See note, p. 43. 



''We wish to commence in a new empire a new life of which 
the supreme aim shall be : Greater G-ermany whose task shall 
be the well-being of Germans. All other laws are dependent 
on this great one. 

"The Reichstag of Greater Germany is to be elected by 
universal suffrage. All voters must be married and 30 years 
of age. Voting rights will be conferred only on those ad- 
mitted to the rights of complete citizenship. Those only may 
become complete citizens whose mother tongue is German, 
whose education corresponds to that of the common school 

87 



88 CONQUEST AND KULTTJR. 

(Volksschule), who are of pure German blood, and who take 
the oath of allegiance. Rights of citizenship may be can- 
celed by the courts for any word or act contrary to German 
interests. * * * 

^^The new addition, the Greater Germany, * * * will 
only be represented in the Keichstag when their German- 
ization is complete. All officials of Greater Germany will 
use the German language; interpreters may be permitted 
in cases of necessity, but at the cost of the person requiring 
them, and this cost will be proportionate to the importance 
of the case as well as to the litigant employing the interpreter. 
Part of the sum thus gained shall be turned over to the 
public treasury to be applied in German colonization. 

^^ Books, newspapers, periodicals, and pamphlets of any 
kind must be printed in German. * * * Foreign books 
may be imported only after authorization by the State and 
on payment of a tax of 100 per cent ad valorem. Foreign 
newspapers must obtain the same authorization and pay 
the same tax. The State shall have the right to take the 
first page of the principal edition of every newspaper without 
recompense, in order that it may present to the people 
governmental views in nonpartisan fashion. * * * 

^^No foreigner shall acquire house or land in Greater Ger- 
many * * *." 

Tannenberg, Gross-Deutschland: die Arbeit des 20teii Jahrhund- 
erts 1911, pp. 82-83. 



^' When we have won, and obtained territorial concessions, 
we shall receive lands inhabited by French or Russians, con- 
sequently by enemies. One wonders if such an increase of 
territory will improve our situation. In our national egoism 
and hardness of heart we have not got so far as to demand 
from a vanquished enemy the cession of uninhabited terri- 
tory. * * * 

''To speak openly on the question of 'evacuation' has its 
utihty, so that our enemies should know that this extreme 
measure has its supporters in Germany * * * 

" Those who have learned to think according to the historical 
school will be horrified when we demand the ' evacuation ' of 
land inhabited by Europeans; for that signifies the violent 



CONQUEST AITD KULTUK. 89 

interruption of an historical development centuries old. 
Besides, the idea wounds the sensibihties of civihzed man 
and is contrary to the modern law of nations which protects 
individual property. But if we consider seriously the pecul- 
iar position of the German people, squeezed into the middle 
of Europe and running the risk of being suffocated for want 
of air, it must he agreed tJiat we might he compelled to demand 
from a vanquished enemy, either in the East or in the West, 
that he should hand over the unpopulated territory ^ * * * 

^^ We must not contemplate an offensive war undertaken 
with the object of getting territory evacuated; but we ought 
to get used to the idea that such a step would be admissible 
as a reply to an enemy's attack." 

Daniel Frymann, Wenn ich der Kaiser ware, (1911), 21st ed. 
1914, pp. 140-141. 



'' We may depend upon the re-Germanizing of Alsace, but 
not of Livonia and Kurland. There no other course is op5i 
to us but to keep the subject race in as uncivilized a condition 
as possible, and thus prevent them from becoming a danger 
to the handful of their conquerors.'' 

Treitschke, Politics, I, p. 122. 



[In case of war with Russia :] '^ We shall demand the ces- 
sion of such territory as we need for the straightening of 
our frontiers and for colonization. Evacuation of it vnll he 
required.^' 

Daniel Frymann, Wenn ich der Kaiser ware, (1911) 21st ed. 1914, 
p. 170. 



"War will unify the strong nation that is capable of a 
future and make it free, and will establish the people on a 
healthy substantial basis. Those are the two chief purposes 
of war. A third can, however, be suggested, that a nation 
even when her Tiational and fundamental interests do not 
coincide vjitli those of another nation, still must rudely 
destroy this people's highest interests, must indeed remorselessly 
cut off from this foreign people the means of living for the 



90 OONQUEST AND KULTUB, 

future. It is a great, powerful nation which, overturns a less 
courageous and frequently degenerate people and takes its 
territory from it. For a great, strong people finds its house 
too narrow, it cannot stir and move about, cannot work 
and build up, cannot thrive and grow. The great nation 
needs new territory. TJierefore it must spread out over 
foreign soil, and must displace strangers with the power of the 
sword. ^^ 

Klaus Wagner, Krieg, 1906, p. 80. 



"Slowly, not too hastily, we people of Germanic blood 
must proceed in the settlement of the lands which are to be 
ours in the future. * * * 

"The lands which we need to-day and in the future for 
colonizing, we must thoroughly cleanse of foreign elements.'' 
Idem, p. 171. 



"By right of war the right of strange races to migrate 
into Germanic settlements will be taken away. By right of 
war the non-Germanic [population] in America and Great 
Australia must he settled in Africa. ^ ^^ ^ By right of 
war -we can send haclc the useless South American Romance 
peoples and the half-breeds to North Africa J ^ 
Idem, p. 173. ' 



"The historical view as to the biological evolution of races 
tells us that there are dominant races and subordinate races. 
Political history is nothing more than the history of the 
struggles between the dominant races. Conquest in par- 
ticular is always a function of the dominant races. * * * 
"Where now in all the world does it stand written that 
conquering races are imder obhgations to grant after an 
interval pohtical rights to the conquered? Is not the 
practice of pohtical rights an advantage which biologically 
belongs to the dominant races? * * * What are the 
rights of the masses ? * * * In my opinion, the rights 
of men are, first, personal freedom; secondly, the right of 
free expression of opinion — as well as freedom of the press; 
* * * and, finally, the right to work, in case one is with- 
out means. * * * ^ 



CONQUEST AND KULTUE. 91 

^'In like manner there is the school question. The man 
with poHtical rights sets up schools, and the speech used in 
the instruction is his speech. * * * The purpose must 
be to crush the [individuality of the] conquered people and 
its political and lingual existence. * * * 

^^The conquerors are acting only according to biological 
principles if they suppress alien languages and undertake 
to destroy strange popular customs. * * * Only the 
conquering race must be populous, so that it can overrim 
the territory it has won. Nations that are populous are, 
moreover, the only nations which have a moral claim to 
conquest, for it is wrong that in one country there should 
be overpopulation while close at hand — and at the same 
time on better soil — a less numerous population stretches 
its limbs at ease. 

[As to the inferior races:] ''From political life they are to 
be excluded. They are ehgible only to positions of a non- 
pohtical character, to commercial commissions, chambers of 
commerce, etc. * * * The principal thing for the con- 
queror is the outspoken will to rule and the will to destroy 
the political and national life of the conquered * * *." 
K. F. Wolff, Alldeutsche Blatter, Aug. 30, 1913. Wolff is one of 
the regular staff of the Pan-German organ. The extremists among 
German political writers are continually bearing in memory the 
condition of affairs which prevailed in ancient Sparta and India, and 
in Medieval Europe, where serfdom or a distinction of races pre- 
vailed. Such a distinction, they say, is warranted by history and 
by science. The fittest, the strongest should rule; the weak should 
serve and obey. A new warrior aristocracy should be created of 
German blood. 



SECTION XIII. 
THE PAN-GERMAN PARTY, 



The Pan-German League was established in 1890 as a result of the dis- 
satisfaction over the Zanzibar negotiations with England by which Ger- 
many gained Helgoland in return for certain concessions in East Africa, 
and in response to an editorial in the Kolnische Zeitung entitled "Germany, 
wake up." The organization was soon united with a group which Dr. 
Carl Peters had established in 1886 for the furtherance of German oversea 
interests. The first congress was held in 1891, and in 1894 the Alldeutsche 
Blatter was established as the organ of the League. 

" In place of the great enthusiasm of the year 1870, which 
inspired the German people to heroic deeds, a certain apathy- 
has become manifest. Economic interests and social ques- 
tions push into the background individual utterances of a 
marked national f eehng. Although the interests of Deutsch- 
tum are every year injured in the most shameless fashion, 
now here, now there, the great mass of the German people 
remains indifferent and disinterested. While other peoples 
defend energetically the holy possessions of their race, and 
everywhere with success, we consume our energies in internal 
party struggles and grow apathetic in deceptive self-content. 
National tasks should not be placed behind social and 
economic ones. We must strengthen our national feeling 
and bring home to the mass of our people the fact that 
Germany's development did not end in the year 1871. We 
ought not to forget that beyond the boundary lines com- 
passed by the black, white, and red flag thousands of Germans 
reside; that the German nation is justified, and in duty 
bound, no less than other nations, to take its share as a 
dominant power in the history of the whole world; and 
that in our progress toward the position of a world power 
we only took the first step when the German Empire was 
founded. That our demands are not unrealizable was 
demonstrated by the speech of our Emperor, January 18, 
1896, at the banquet in celebration of the foundation of the 
92 



CONQUEST AITD KULTTJE. 93 

German Empire, when the Emperor pointed out that 
Germany had become a world power, whose subjects dwelt 
in far-off lands, whose interests in the world were estimated 
at milliards of marks, whose duty it had therefore become 
to protect the many thousands of Germans in foreign parts, 
and to link this greater German Empire closer to the home 
country." 

Official circular of the Pan-Germanic League, soliciting member- 
ship. [P. G. D., p. 27.] 



1 . ' ^ To quicken the patriotic self-consciousness of Germans, 
and to offer opposition to all m.ovements antagonistic to 
national development. 

2. ^'To treat and solve all questions bearing upon the 
bringing up of children and higher education in the Germanic 
sense. 

3. ^^ To watch over and support all German national move- 
ments in all countries where Germans have to sustain a struggle 
in support of Deutschtum, with the object of embracing and 
uniting all Germans on the globe. 

4. ''To promote an active German poUcy of interests in 
Europe, and across the seas, and especially to further the 
colonial movement for practical purposes." 

Statutes of the Pan-Germanic League, first adopted May 10, 1&03. 
[P. G. D., p. 28.] See Handbuch des alldeutschen Verbandes, 1906, 
pp. 21-22. 



'' Who wields the decisive influence on the trend of foreign 
politics in Germany? Who gives the life impulse to economic 
driving forces.^ Absolutely none other, for a quarter of a 
century, but the Pan-Germans. They have acquired a greater 
influence on the shaping of national pohcy than even the 
mightiest combination of interests among the great land- 
owners and capitahsts. In the course of years they have 
put through more measures than all the pohtical parties and 
all the parHamentary subdivisions of Germany taken to- 
gether. 

Kurt Eisner, in Die Neue Zeit, trans. New York Times Current 
History, VI, p. 676. See note, p. 78. 



94 CONQUEST AND KULTTJR. 

"Since the second Morocco crisis [1911] the 'world war' 
had been the ever-recurring catchword in the Pan-Gei^ian 
Society's organ, and the German world 'concerns' — the 
popular word for 'interests' — had been the dominant 
subject. From the early part of 1914 the leader of the Pan- 
German propaganda, Dr. Ritter, who was dismissed shortly 
before the war, traveled about making speeches deahng with 
the world war, in which, following a well-known pattern, the 
splendors of war and the immorahty of peace were pre- 
sented and the absolute necessity of war for the realization 
of German world ambitions was set forth." 

Idem, p. 676. See note, p. 78. 



'^ Lending their cooperation to this program of the Pan- 
German Society and its manifold ramifications and affiliated 
organizations are the Land Owners' League, the Central 
iTidustrial Society, and others, a 'portion of the capitalistic 
interests, especially shipowners, and finally — and herein 
lies the special nature of this society — its executive heads 
are former generals and admirals. Besides this, it has the 
cooperation of a staff of 'intellectuals' whose activities 
extend everywhere. The latter, having acquked, mostly by 
foreign travel, certain kinds of knowledge and experience, 
are welcome to the press as experts whenever there is a 
controversy regarding any question of world politics; on 
such occasions the Pan-German propagandists bob up, as 
collaborators and information suppliers of the press, in huge 
numbers, like snails after a rainstorm, and public opinion is 
dehvered over almost defenseless to them. The secret and 
the danger of their influence, however, lie in the fact that, 
whereas public opinion is invariably swept forward irre- 
sistibly by the force of events, the Pan-Germans, by unflag- 
ging energy, have been preparing these very events for years." 
Idem, pp. 674, 675. 



" The fuel for all this agitation has been furnished by the 
Imperial Admiralty. The predecessor of Herr Tirpitz, 
Herr HoUmann, more than once declared in the budget 
conmoittee that if we thought that the admiralty fostered a 



COITQUEST AND KULTTJE. 95 

naval agitation lie v/as far from being the one to do it; he 
thought himseK too good for that and the undertaking un- 
worthy his office. With Herr Tirpitz all was changed. He 
furnishes the official articles, he commands the corvette 
captains who by their writings are to soften the hearts of 
the Reichstag and pen all the articles in the Berlin Corre- 
spondence and in the North-German Gazette. FroTn his 
office the provincial papers are directed, and the pamphlets 
provided with material which are sent into the world under 
the anonymous signature of 'A Friend of the Fatherland.' 
And if it is not possible to arouse enthusiasm in this fashion, 
then they attem.pt at least to give people a scare. A pam- 
phlet * * * says, ^What shipping carries our flag is 
too much to perish and too little to survive. * * * jf 
we do not support the new naval program * * * j^^ -^jj] 
be visited on our children and our children's children.' Then 
appears a pamphlet from the official publishing house of 
Mittler & Son, in which is said: ^A State must approve of 
this program if it will not merely lead the life of a drudge; ' or 
what are great sacrifices in comparison to an unsuccessful 
war? * * * If this program is rejected a war at sea 
threatens our coasts, harbors, and maritime cities with 
pillage and fire; and the whole German Empire may be 
stricken at a blow from the list of the rich and commanding 
world powers. Gentlemen, here is nothing new; we have 
had it all before.'' 

Eugen Pdchter in the Reichstag, December 11, 1899, Tombo, 
Deutsche Reden, pp. 192-194. Deputy Richter proceeds to show 
that the same methods were employed to induce the Reichstag and 
its electorate to vote large increases to the army in 1887. The 
Reichstag of 1886 had refused to vote the increases and had been 
dis:Solv'ed. The new Reichstag passed the bill in 1888. 



Pan-Germans describe themselves as ^^ warm-hearted Ger- 
m.ans who never forget to think of the future development 
of the German people, just as a father provides for the future 
of his children, and is not engrossed merely with the present." 

Heinrich Calmbach, AUdeutsche Katechismus. Vergnet, p. 8. 
Calmbach is one of the writers attached to the Pan-German League. 



96 COE-QUEST AND KULTTJB. 

^^ Furthermore, England is afraid of nothing so much as of 
a war * * * Unfortunately, all the efforts for better rela- 
tions with England will come to nothing so long as the Ger- 
man Philistine, who has taken the heautiful title of Pan^Ger- 
man, is saturated with hate of England and 'presses for war 
with her. It is very easy through a so-called national or 
patriotic phraseology to win over the masses and to stir up 
feeling against another kingdom. What a lot of trouble 
they make the leaders of the Pan-Germans do not consider; 
they take no responsibihty for the consequences of their 
jingoistic efforts." 

Deutsche Kevue, January, 1913, p. 95. This is an unsigned lead- 
ing article in the well-known German periodical. 



''From the first projected naval program to the most recent 
law for defense, every single plan for preparedness has origi- 
nated in Pan-German circles. They were the advance guards. 
Twice they pushed the 'Morocco' question almost over the 
precipice to a world war. And eventually Sultan Abdul 
Aziz, whom I made in 1906 the hero of an article which un- 
fortunately passed unperceived, became, after all, the 'Sul- 
tan of the world war,' in so far as western European prob- 
lems are responsible for the catastrophe. 

"When the Panther suddenly appeared off Agadir, in the 
summer of 1911, German pubhc opinion was caught entirely 
unprepared.^ But anybody who hod taken the trouble to 
follow the propaganda and publications of the Pan^German 
Society might have predicted months before that some day 
a world crisis would come as punctually as any of the issues 
of the weekly organ of the society, the Pan-German Gazette 
(AUdeutsche Blatter). To readers of this paper the act of 
the Panther was as comprehensible as the arrival of their 
favorite sheet — they had been, so to speak, subscribers for 
six months to one as well as to the other. And it may be 
remembered what a joyful outcry there was in the press, 
especially in provincial papers, over the 'act of deliverance' 
of the Panther. What had previously been urged only by 
Pan-German sheets, from their hiding places, was now taken 

^ For the Morocco dispute, see note pp. 120-21. 



CONQUEST AIs^D KULTUK. 97 

up by the great papers. They sought to make the incident 
lead to the uttermost extremes. In vain the semi-official 
ones tried to reassure ^emselves ; for months the press agents 
of the Pan-German Society proved themselves the stronger. 
The pubhsher of the Grenzboten, Cleinow, a trusted ally of 
the foreign office, spoke in those days of the activity of a 
Krupp press agenc}^. And when the responsible heads of the 
Government succeeded once again in calming the storm a 
renewed passionate agitation of the Pan-Germans began. 
Under the immediate pressure of the unwelcome ^ Franco- 
German agreement, General von Bernhardi wrote his fateful 
book, Germany and the Next War. 

"The program of the Pan-German Society is simple and 
clear. The ^nationalistic' Pan-German illusions are merely 
an ideahstic by-product for the delectation of teachers and 
professors affiliated with the society. The real goal is the 
acquisition of colonies where Germans may settle, where 
German peasants may cultivate the soil, of colonies that may 
supply us with raw material for our manufactures and use 
German products in exchange. That is the 'sure market/ 
the dream of the German export trade." 

Kurt Eisner, in Die Neue Zeit, trans., New York Times History, 
VI, 674-675. Seejnote, p. 78. 



''The Defense Association (WeJirverein) has opened the 
eyes of the German people to the fact that we can not hope 
for victory unless we have a strong miHtary force. The 
navy by itseK alone is of no avail, and the Germans 
have no guarantees that victory must always be theirs. 
The famous Prince Leopold of Dessau once said that God 
was always on the side of the strongest battaHons. But 
these strong battaHons are no longer at our disposal. We 
must all reahze this. Our people ought to be permeated 
with a sense of responsibihty. TJiat the Defense Associa- 
tion was necessary, tJiat it has been moving in the right 
direction and has demanded only what was absolutely 
indispensable, is proved by the third army bill, in which 
all those demands which the Defense Association considered 

1 Of 1911. 

12726°— 17 7 



98 CONQUEST AND KULTUR. 

necessary Tiave been embodied. We must insist on the fact 
that it was we who took the lead, and who recognized 
the needs of our people in time. * * * Our schools 
ought to reform their curricula. The classical stuff ought 
to be done away with^ and our younger generation ought 
to be imbued with the German point of view. Patriotism 
is the highest form of ideahsm. That is what we ought to 
inculcate in the minds of oiu" young pecple. 

^'The history of the German nation and of its 'kultur/ 
which is unequaledj entitles it to a voice in the affairs of 
the world. Modesty will not get us far. It is sometimes 
necessary to answer by means of the sword." 

From a speech by General Keim (retired) in a meeting of the 
local branch of the Wehrverein in Darmstadt, as reported in the 
Darmstadter Ta^eblatt, Apr. 23, 1913. [N., p. 87.] 



"The chairman, Attorney Class, of Mayence, opened the 
proceedings with a discussion of the poUtical situation. 

^'^If we are unanimous to-day in backing up our Govern- 
ment and in thanking them for bringing in an army bill 
conceived on so great a scale^ we may be permitted at 
the same time to give expression to the hope that the armed 
forces of Germany will be really made use of, in case jealous 
rivals or neighbors should oppose our national needs. Our 
rapidly increasing nation must assert its right to exist. 
It must hole out for fresTi land. * * * The German 
Empire must look far ahead in safeguarding its future, and 
the only way to do this is the resolute adoption of an active 
policy.' [Loud and long-continued applause.]" 

From a report of a meeting of the general committee of the Pan- 
German League in Munich, contained in the Tagliche Rund- 
schau, Apr. 21, 1913. [N., p. 77.] Heinrich Cla^ is a lawyer and 
was one time president of the Pan-German League. 



''The Pan-German League is convinced that the future of 
Germany's economic position in the world can not be perma- 
nently assured unless we pursue a comprehensive and pro- 
gressive policy of colonization. Our future is to be safe- 
guarded only by the acquisition of colonies of our own." 

Meeting of the local branch of the Pan-German League in Halle, 
as reported in the Saalezeitung, Nov. 8, 1912. [N., p. 74.]. 



COXQUEST AND KULTUK. 99 

•' General I^eim : Every good German ought to be a member 
of the Defense Association {Welirverein) . The Defense 
Association is fighting for the mihtary preparedness of our 
nation, for those ideals which the German people ought to 
pursue. There is a smell as of gunpowder pervading the 
world, even where we do not hear the roll of the muskets. 
The Defense Association took this state of things into ac- 
count as long as a year ago. It is guided by the conviction 
that Germany cannot enjoy peace unless she has an army 
strong enough to preserve it. * * "^ One can often hear 
it said : Why should there be war or for what end ? The 
kings do not want it nor do the Governments and least of 
all the people. Then why have war? But war does not 
depend on the will or wishes of human beings; it is as 
inevitable as the forces of nature; it is an irresistible 
demoniacal power, which makes all written agreements, 
all humanitarian efforts, and all peace conferences misera- 
ble failures." 

From a report on a meeting of the local branch of the Wekrverein 
in Cassel, in the Casseler Allgemeine Zeitung. Feb. 6, 1913. [N., 
pp. 81-82.] 



''We are celebrating, on this New Year's Day, the cen- 
t-enary of a great historic event. It is the day of Tauroggen, 
on which Torek's courageous deed ^ in the mill of Poscherun 
ushered in a new era for Prussia and for Germany. At that 
time, too, the thirteenth year of the new century was the 
year of hberation from gloom and oppression, and we could 
wish for nothing better from the coming year. Should a war 
be necessary to accomphsh tliis, as it was necessary a hun- 
dred years ago, should the 'year of fire and flood' really 
be followed [as our prophets will have it] hj the 'year of 
blood' — well, in that case the German people wrU reveal to 
the world that they are ready to-day, as they were in 1813, 
to defy a world in arms." 

Die Post, Jan. 1, 1913. [N., p. 7.] 

1 Gen. Yorck was in command of a Prassian corps in the service of France in jSTapoleon's 
campaign against Russia in 1812-13. After the retreat of the latter from Moscow Yorck 
entered into relations with the Rns&irais and made a collusive surrender of his corps to them 
which then passed into the Russian service. Patriotism inspired his act, although the 
military ethics of his action were doubtfiil. 



100 CONQUEST AND KULTUE. 

''The fear of German despotism is one of the most solid 
with which we have to reckon, and one of the strongest 
enemy powers against which we have to fight. In Germany 
this fight is the fight against the Pan-Germans. * * * 
[Delbriick proceeds to point out the danger;] 
''When their demands [those of the Pan-Germans] are so 
exaggerated that they put serious difficulties in the way of 
any entrance into negotiations, and when the forces which 
put forward these demands are so excessively strong that 
even a strong and independent government can not detach 
itself from them. That is the case with us at present, since 
the circles which fut forward the Pan-German demands, and 
in which this propaganda is carried on, are essentially circles 
on which the government is ohliged in part to rely in the whole 
of its domestic policy. ^^ 

Delbriick in the Preussische Jahrbucher, quoted by Manchester 
Guardian, May 24, 1917. See note, p. 77; also note, p. 59. 



"Listen to the Colonial League: 'We need colonies, and 
more colonies than we have akeady, to give vent to our sur- 
plus energies without losing them and to make our motherland 
economically independent.' The Navy League adheres to 
this view and says: 'We need a fleet strong enough not only 
to protect the colonies we have now, but to bring about the 
acquisition of others.' * * * 

"With the voice of these leagues the military writers chime 
in. Ail honor to the many-sided knowledge that appears 
in tliis abim^dant literature. But it is ground into the soldier 
that the hest defensive is the offensive; he laments therefore in 
a form more or less veiled that we do not make use of our 
superior m-ilitary strength in order to extend our power. And 
so readiness for wa.r imverceptihly becomes a need for war. 

"The most important link, finally, in the chain of irre- 
sponsible politicians is the Pan-Germans. The aims of this 
association are not clear. 

"According to the name, they seek the political union of 
ail those who are bound by German tongue and lineage; 
in practice, however, they employ their influence to bring 
German interests (or rather the parties interested), wherever 
they are in the world, to the top. A thorouglily praise- 



CONQUEST AND KULTUR. 101 

worthy undertaking ; only in the choice of raeans they do not 
depend merely on dexterity hut recommend smartness and 
dash, in other words threatening and violence — dangerous 
weapons. For in the case of failure, they bring shame; in 
case of success, disfavor and revenge." 

Leading article in Deutsche Revue, July-September, 1912, pp. 
257-258. The methods of "smartness and dash" (i. e., as if in 
fencing), here described as those advocated by the Pan-Germans, 
were those adopted when the Austrian and German foreign offices, 
with their 48-hour ultimatum, dealt with Serbia. They proved as 
dangerous as the writer feared. Professor Delbriick, of Berlin, says 
(Atlantic Monthly, Feb., 1915, p. 234): "Was this abruptness 
intended * * * to render the keeping of peace impossible? 
Many say so, particularly those in foreign countries. It seems to 
me that the exact opposite could be said with more justice. * * * 
Expressed in markedly mild terms the Serbian demands would 
have accomplished nothing materially * * * and would have 
given an impression of weakness and in'esolution. " The article 
. in the Deutsche Revue aroused great resentment among the Pan- 
Germans. It was attributed by some of them to Kiderlen-Wachter, 
then Minister of Foreign Affairs, whose foreign policy they regarded 
as pusillanimous. 



^^ The people can no longer rightly believe that the present 
battles are inevitable battles of defense. They have a 
rather gloomy suspicion that a policy is being pursued, and 
here a positively disastrous effect is produced by certain 
documents in which great leagues and private persons ex- 
press lust of conquest. Only general ideas of their con- 
tents reach the great mass of people, but to the best of my 
belief their existence is well known in every barracks, in 
every workshop, and in every village inn. The consequence 
of this literature of conquest is the disappearance of simple 
faith in the defensive war." 

Friedrich Naumann, Die Hilfe, as quoted in The New York 
Times, Aug. 24, 1916. Ilerr Naumann then advises that the people 
be taught that the present German occupation of enemy country is 
a great blessing for the Germans, and also that it is absolutely neces- 
sary because the enemy occupies German colonies in Asiatic Turkey, 
Eastern Galicia, and also a bit of the Vosges. They should also be 
told that the war has to go on because the enemy still desires to 
crush Germany. 



SECTION XIV. 
PAN-GERMANISM AND AMERICA. 



''The most dangerous foe of Germany in this generation 
will prove to be the United States." 

Dr. Otto Hotsch in AUdeutsche Blatter, Aug. 23, 1902. Hotsch is 
really speaHng here of commercial war, but to him political war was 
a natural sequence of commercial. Hotsch is professor of history at 
the royal academy in Posen and at the war academy in Berlin. 



"Operations against the United States of Korth America 
must be entirely different. With that country, in particular, 
pohtical friction, manifest in commercial aims, has not been 
lacking in recent years, and has until now been removed 
chiefly through acquiescence on our part. However, as 
this submission has its hmit, the question arises as to what 
means we can develop to carry out our purpose with force 
in order to combat the encroachments of the United States 
upon our interests. Giir main factor is our fleet. * * * 
It is evident, then, that a naval war against the United 
States can not be carried on with success without at the 
same time inaugurating action on land. * * * It is 
almost a certainty, however, that a victorious assault on 
the Atlantic coast, tying up the importing and exporting 
business of the whole country, would bring about such an 
annoying situation that the Government would be wilhng 
to treat for peace. 

''If the G-erman invading force were equipped and ready for 
transporting the moment the battle fleet is despatched, 
under average conditions, these corps can begin operations 
on American soil within at least four weeks. * * * ^he 
United States at this time [1901] is not in a position to oppose 
our troops with an army of equal rank. * * * 

^^The fact that one or two of her provinces are occupied 
by the invaders would not alone move the Americans to sue 
for peace. To accomplish this end the invaders would 
102 



COITQUEST AND KULTUE. 103 

have to inflict real material damage by injuring the whole 
country through the successful seizure of many of the 
Atlantic seaports in which the threads of the entire wealth 
of the Nation meet. It should be so managed that a line of 
land operations would be in close juncture witli tlie fleet, 
through which we would be in a position to seize in a ^hort 
time many of these important and rich cities, to interrupt 
their means of supply, disorganize all governmental affairs, 
assume control of all useful buildings, confiscate all war and 
transport supplies, and lastly, to impose heavy indem- 
nities. * * * 

"As a matter of fact, Germany is the only great power 
which is in a position to conquer the United States." 

Freiherr von Edelsheim, Operations upon the Sea, trans. 1914, pp. 86-92. 
Edelsheim was a second lieutenant in the service of the German 
General Staff in 1901, when he wi'ote these words. They are not 
official but the opinions of a military man and a nobleman. 



" The German Empire has become a world empire. Every- 
where in distant quarters of the earth thousands of our 
countrymen are hving. German guardians of the sea, Ger- 
man science, German industry, are going across the sea. 
The value of what Germany has upon the sea amounts to 
thousands of millions. It is your earnest duty, gentlemen, 
to help bind this greater German Empire firmly to our an- 
cestral home. * * * /^ is my wish that, standing in 
closest union, you help me to do my duty not only to my country- 
men in a narrower sense, hut also to the many thousands of 
countrymen in foreign lands. This means that I may he able 
to -protect them if I mnust. 

Kaiser's speech, June 16, 1896. Gauss, 102. This is one of the 
Kaiser's most pointed and significant utterances. The protection of 
German citizens in South America could only mean interference in 
the affairs of South American nations, and if they refused such inter- 
ference it was likely to mean such ultimatums as Austria sent Ser- 
bia. Such a statement was a threat against the Monroe doctrine 
and was likely to involve the United States. 



''The Germanization of America has gone ahead too far 
to be interrupted. Whoever talks of the danger of the 



104 CONQUEST AND KULTUB. 

Amoricanization of the Germans now here is not well in- 
formed or cherishes a false conception of our relations. * * * 
In a hundred years the American people will be conquered by 
the victorious German spirit, so that it will present an enor- 
mous German Empire. Whoever does not believe this lacks 
confidence in the strength of the German spirit." 

Letter of a New York German, Robert Thiem, to the Alldeutsche 
Blatter, Sept. 20, 1902. The Alldeutsche Blatter thinks the author 
rather optimistic. Germans differ as to the outcome in America, 
says this Pan-German organ. Some are very pessimistic. The 
Alldeutsche Blatter thinks that the great hope is for Germans in 
America to retain their language. 



^^Immigration [to the United States] is mainly German and 
Irish. Since immigrating Germans quickly pick up the 
Enghsh-American language, they make a good cement for 
the great Ajnerican structure. Whether it will always be 
so, whether at last the American Germans wiU harken to 
the voice of the blood, and whether the arrogant Irish will 
ever melt into the American nationality like the Germans is 
not yet demonstrated. The Monroe doctrine lacks as yet 
a justification in the unified character of the people." 

Fritz Bley, Die Wettstellung«,des Deutschtums, 1897, p. 8. 

It is therefore the duty of everyone who loves languages 
to see that the future language spoken in America shall be 
German. It is of the highest importance to keep up the 
German language in America, to establish German universi- 
ties, improve the schools, introduce German newspapers, and 
to see that at American universities German professors are 
more capable than their English-speaking colleagues, and 
make their influence felt unmistakably on thought, science, 
art, and literature. If Germans bear this in mind, and help 
accordingly, the goal will eventually be reached. At the 
present moment the center of German intellectual activity 
is in Germany; in the remote future it will be in America. 
The Germans there are the pioneers of a greater German cul- 
ture, which we may regard as ours in the future. He advises 
the Germans to compose themselves into an aristocracy of 
talent, which is the most effective way nowadays to obtain 
political power. Germans only need to grasp the situation 



COXQUEST AXD KULTUE. 105 

and the future is theirs. Let them show that they mean to 
maintain Deutschtum, and then emigration may be directed 
to America with impunity. 

Hiibbe-Schleiden, in the Pan-Germau Central Organ, January, 
1903. [Summarized in P. G. D., pp. 319-321.] Wilhelm Hiibbe- 
Schleiden is a traveler, student, and writer on German colonization. 



'^ The isolated groups of Germans abroad greatly benefit our 
trade, since by preference they obtain their goods from 
Germany; but they may also be useful to us politically, as we 
discover in America. The American-Germans have formed 
a poHtical alliance with the Irish, and thus united constitute 
a power in the State with which the Government must 
reckon." 

Bemhardi, Germany and the Next War (1911), trans., 1914, p. 78. 



''From all this it appears that the Monroe doctrine cannot 
be justified. * * * So it remains only what we Euro- 
peans have described as an aspiration. And so it remains 
only what we Europeans almost universally consider it, an 
impertinence. With a noisy cry they try to make an im- 
pression on the world and succeed, especially with the stupid. 
The inviolability of the American soil is invoked without 
there being at hand the slightest means of warding off the 
attack of a respectable European power. 

Johannes VoUert, Aildeutsche Blatter, Jan. 17, 1903. 



''We must desire that at any cost a German countiy con- 
taining some tw^enty to thirty million Germans may grow 
up in the coming century in south Brazil — and that, too, 
no matter whether it remains a portion of Brazil, or becomes 
an independent State, or enters into close relationship with 
our Empire. Unless our connection with Brazil is always 
secured by ships of war, and unless Germany is able to 
exercise pressure there, our development is threatened." 

Gustav von Schmoller, Handels- und Machtpolitik, I, p. 36. 
SchmoUer at the time of his death. (1917) was the most distinguished 
economic historian in German v. 



106 COISTQUEST AND KULTUR. 

''The more Germany is condem.ned to an attitude of passive 
resistance toward the United States the more emphatically 
must she defend her interests in Central and South America, 
where she to-day occupies an authoritative position. Now, 
in matters of equity and respect for the law the Romanic 
peoples in America can not be judged according to European 
standards, and in certain circumstances Germany will be 
constrained all the more to employ coercive political meas- 
ures in proportion as the amount of German capital invested 
(in State loans, railways, plantations) in those parts increases. 
For this 'purpose vje need a fleet capable not only of coping 
with the miserahle forces of South American States y hut powerful 
enough, if the need should arise, to cause Americans to think 
twice hefore malcing any attempt to apply an economic Monroe 
doctrine in South America. ''^ 

Von Schulze-Gaevernitz in Die Nation, Mar. 5, 1898. Gerhart von 

Schulze-Gaevernitz is professor of political economy in the University 

of Freiburg. 



'' While Englishmen and Yankees are ever3rwhere disliked 
on account of their sharp and reserved manner, the French 
were, until the seventies, the unrivaled leaders and patterns 
of these peoples [the South Americans] in their progress 
toward a higher culture; but now through their want of 
numbers and through their swift decline into universal cor- 
ruption, they have forfeited much of their leadership. 
Would that the Germans might be called through their 
talents and activities to be the intellectual, economic, and 
pohtical leaders of these peoples. * * * 

"The Germans seem marked by their talents and by their 
achievements to be the teachers and the intellectual, economic, 
and political leaders of these peoples [the Spanish and Portu- 
guese Americans]. 

"If the Germans do not accomplish this mission, then, 
sooner or later, in consequence of political or financial bank- 
ruptcy, the nations of Spanish and Portuguese America will 
come imder the domination and exploitation of the United 
States * * *."■ 

J. Unold, Das Deutechtum in Chile, 1899, pp. 62-65. Johannes 
Unold is professor in the Handelshochschule at Munich and is a 
zealous Pan-German. 



CONQUEST AND KULTTJK. 107 

''The moral sanction of the Monroe doctrine disappeared 
on the day when the treaty for the annexation of the PhiHp- 
pines was signed by McKinley. Thereby America broke the 
tacit agreement, ' Do not mix in American affairs and I will 
not mix in affairs outside America/ and gave us the right 
to set up a doctrine of a Greater Germany against that of a 
Greater America. European interests j and with tJiem the 
German, lie in America in case we have the power to support 
them effectively. We shall not forbear to accustom Amverica to 
this point of view J'' 

;Jc ^ :f; ^ ^ 

'^It depends on the political situation when German 
diplomacy shall hold the time fit to put a value on the Ger- 
mans of Venezuela and their interests by taking possession 
of a harbor * * * and thus do the cause of peace and 
the development of the country the best service. * * * 
But nothing can be done and German emigration should not 
be directed to South America unless the question whether 
Germany means simply to obey the American order of hands 
oH in South America is first answered in the negative." 

W. Wintzer, Die Deutschen im tropischen Amerika, 1900, pp. 
78, 81, 82. Wintzer is a journalist and author. It will be noted that 
tbis was written just three years before President Roosevelt had 
occasion to rebuff the German Government for its evident designs on 
a Venezuelan harbor. 



''Trade with the United States forms the biggest but in 
many respects the mihappiest chapter in the over-sea relations 
of Germany. No t only is the balance of trade heavily against 
us, but, above all, the balance of emigration. Many hundred 
thousands Germany has lost to America to be fertilizers of 
kultur [Kulturdunger]. It is there that the German emi- 
grants have given up their allegiance most quickly, and they 
have helped forge the mighty weapons of competition which 
are now directed against us by the third world empire in the 
international m.arket, nay, in our own!" 

Arthur Dix, Deutschland auf den Hochstrassen des Weltwirt- 
schaftsverkehrs, 1901, p. 149. Dix hopes that the Panama Canal 
may not fall solely into American hands. In case it does Germans 
should try to get bases in the West Indies (p. 141). He complains 
that the American ship subsidy bill then up is directed again.t Ger- 
man shipping and that the tariff is directed especially against 
German imports. 



108 CONQUEST AND KULTUR. 

"Aiid even the causes of political friction between the two 
coim tries have increased since they became neighbors in the 
South Sea, and since the United States proclaimed her 
determination to make herself mistress of the passage for 
world trade between the old and the new middle sea, the 
Atlantic and the Pacific.'^ 
Idem,., p. 150. 



''The North Americans can not forget that the German 
settlements may be the entering wedge in South America 
which is to overturn the Pan-American air castles; and the 
American consuls, especially the American envoy in Rio 
Janeiro, Colonel Page Bryan, follow jealously the progress of 
German colonization and investment. Their fears are our 
hopes and these are the stronger because we have the popiJa- 
tion to dispose of and the United States has not. * * * 
The question whether the German element there will turn to 
Germany or to the United States will be determined in a few 
years and it will depend upon the position which Germany 
takes in fostering church and school * * *." 

Otto Hotsch in Alldeutsche Blatter, Aug. 16, 1902. The writer 
insists, as do many Germans, that the South Americans, as a mixed 
race, are incapable of taking care of themselves and developing their 
natural resources, and that another power must step in. They believe 
that it will be Germany or America. 



A far-seeing policy is required, ruthlessly applying all the 
resources of its power in concluding treaties with foreign 
States, which are eager to receive our emigrants, and so 
would in the end accept the conditions accounted necessary 
by our Government. The Argentine and Brazilian Repub- 
lics, and m a greater or less degree all these needy Republics 
of South America, would accept advice and listen to reason, 
volmitarily or under coercion." 

Friedrich Lange, Reines Deutschtum, 1904, p. 208. [A., p. 35.] 



''Not only liTorth America but the whole of America must 
become a bulwark of Germanic Kultur, perhaps the strongest 
fortress of the Germanic races. That is everyone's hope who 



CONQUEST AND KULTTJE. 109 

has freed himself from his own local European pride and who 
places the race feeling above his love for home. Also South 
America must and can easily become a habitation for German 
or Germanoid races ! 

^^The lands will be settled upon by people of Germanic 
blood, the non-Germanic inhabitants being driven into 
reservations or at best to Africa [Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, 
Egypt]. * * * ^ 

'^A free South America for those of Germanic blood, that 
too is a sublime end, which will be attained by war, not 
perhaps by the conquest of the land by North American 
or by European troops, but through the colonizing efforts 
and self-assertion of the South American Germans." 

Klaus Wagner, Krieg, 1906, pp. 165-166. 



'^Germany takes under her protection the Republics of 
Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Paragua}^, the southern third 
of Bohvia, as much as belongs to the basin of the Rio de La 
Plata and the southern part of Brazil, where Germans pre- 
dominate. ^ ^ ^ 

[German South America] will procure for us in the tem- 
perate zone a territory for colonization where our emigrants 
will be able to settle as agriculturists. Chile and Argentina 
will keep their language and autonomy, but we should insist 
upon the teaching of German in the schools as a second 
language. Southern Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay are the 
countries for German culture. German should there be the 
national language. " 

Tannenberg, Gross-Deutschland; die Arbeit des 20teii Jahr- 
hunderts, pp. 250, 265-266. 



" The German settlements in South Brazil and Uruguay are 
the only ray of light in this dismal picture of South American 
civilization. Here dwell 500,000 Germans, and it is to be 
hoped that in a reorganization of South American conditions 
after the peoples of Latin and Indian mixture are quite 
ruined by bad management, the immense plains of the Platte, 
with the coast in the west, the east, and the south, will fall 
into the hands of the German people. * * * It is truly a 



110 CONQUEST AND KULTUR. 

miracle that tlie German people did not long ago resolve on seizing 
tJie country. Think of half a million Germans in a temperate 
climate in a country of 10,500,000 square miles; that is to 
say, nine times the size of Germany. AU that is enough of 
itself. False modesty has no place in a sti^ggle for world 
erapire^ [And he proceeds to argue that England would not 
have been so falsely modest.] 

Tannenberg, Gross-Deutschland ; die Arbeit des 20tcn Jahr- 
himderts, 1911, pp. 228-229. 



'* These occurrences in South Africa [speaking of the suc- 
cess of the British in the Boer War] I have touched upon 
only to draw a lesson for our future * * * to show 
that to the inhabitants of the South American republics it 
would only he a blessing if they camie under German control. 
They would soon reconcile themselves to German rule and 
take delight in the fame of the German name in the world." 
Idem, p. 230. 



'^ After this war we shall have to reckon on a loss of influ- 
ence in the states of Central and South America ; first, because 
of the lessened purchasing power of those countries and, 
secondly, because of the increased Pan-American ambitions 
of the United States; and we shall have a claim by right 
of victory and by considerations of justice for damages at 
the expense of England and the United States." 

Professor Hermann Schumacher, Meistbegiinstigiuig und Zollun- 
terscheidung, 1915, pp. 43-45. [G ., p. 346.] See note, p. 80. 



''In the case of America our public opinion is to some extent 
lacldng in courage. Just because the United States has set 
up the Monroe doctrine to exclude Europeans from America, 
it does not foUow that we should acquiesce in that doctrine. 
The general acquiescence arises from a lack of unity in 
Europe ; it is this which allows the United States to fish in 
troubled waters. But the States of Central and South Amer- 
ica have only recognized the doctrine when it insured them 
a convenient protection against European countries — when 



COI^QTJEST AN^D KULTUS. . Ill 

the United States was interfering with Mexico, the three 
chief States of South America dehberately set themselves 
against it. There is, of course, no question of our making 
poUtical conquests in America; it is a matter of our com- 
mercial and cultural activities." 

Alfred Hettner: Die Ziele unserer Weltpolitik, 1915, p. 25. This 
is No. 64 of the collection of political essays entitled Der deutsche 
Krieg. Hettner wrote in 1915 when Germans were cautious in their 
expressions about America. Hettner is professor of geography at the 
University of Heidelberg. 



"At the close of the Spanish-American War, I was return- 
ing on the Santee — I think it was — from Santiago, Cuba, to 
Mont auk Point. * * * On board there was a military 
attache from Germany, Count von Goetzen, a personal 
friend of the Kaiser. There was also an attache from some 
South American country, possibly Argentina. 

''Apropos of a discussion between Count von Goetzen and 
myself on the friction between Admiral Dewey and the 
German Admiral at Manila, von Goetzen said to me: 'I will 
tell you something which you better make note of. I am 
not afraid to tell you this because, if you do speak of it, no 
one would believe you and everybody will laugh at you. 

" 'About 15 years from now my country v/iil start her great 
war. She will be in Paris in about two months after the 
commencement of hostilities. Her move on Paris will be 
but a step to her real object — -the crushing of England. 
Everything will move like clockwork. We will be prepared 
and others will not be prepared, I speak of this because 
of the connection which it will have with your own country. 

" 'Some months after we finish our work in Europe we will 
take ITew York and probably Washington and hold them 
for some time. We will put your country in its place with 
reference to Germany. We do not purpose to take any of your 
territory, but we do intend to take a billion or more dollars 
from S"ew York and other places. The Monroe doctrine v/ill be 
taken charge of by us, as we will then have put you in your 
place, and we v/ill take charge of South America, as far as 
we want to. I have no hostility toward your country. I 
like it, but we have to go our own way. Don't forget this, 



112 CONQUEST AND KULTUR. 

and about 16 years from now remember it and it will iiiterest 
yon.' " 

♦ Statement of Maj. N. A. Bailey to Dr. W. T. Homaday, given in a 
letter from Dr. Homaday in New York Tribune, August 11, 1915. 



"The Emperor was standing; so naturally I stood also; 
and according to his habit, which is quite Eooseveitian, he 
stood very close to me, and talked very earnestly. * * * 
He showed, however, great bitterness against the United 
States and repeatedly said, ''America had better look ont 
after this war;" and, '*! shall stand no nonsense from 
America after the war." * * * j ^as so fearful in re- 
porting the dangerous part of this interview, on account of 
the many spies not only in my own embassy but also in the 
State Department, that I sent but a very few words in a 
roundabout way by courier direct to the President." 

James W. Gerard, My Four Years in Germany, 1917, pp. 251-253. 
Mr. Gerard, American ambassador to Berlin, is here summarizing 
an interview with the Kaiser on Oct. 22, 1915. 



^^ The Germans became imbued with the ideas that America 
must be made to suffer, that America must indemnify the 
German people and behind these ideas were the German 
army and navy, the Pan-Germans, the agrarians, conserva- 
tives of all hues, and the National Liberals, the national 
German committees * * * o^j^^j ^]^g German Govern- 
ment. * * * 

'^In April, 1915, I was with a party of German officers at 
Bad Elster in southeastern Saxony. Maj. Liebster, an ac- 
quaintance of mine * * * joined our party * * * 
Maj. Liebster sought the occasion for a conversation with 
me and among other things said: 'We are keeping books on 
yon Americans. It's a long account and we haven't missed 
any details. Rest assured that that account will be pre- 
sented to yon some day for settlement * * * We are 
keeping the account in black and white * * * with cus- 
tomary German thoroughness.' " 

A. Curtis Roth, former American vice consul at Plauen, in daily 
papers, Oct. 26, 1917. 



SECTION XV. 
PRETEXTS FOR WAR. 



" For the sake of Germany's internal conditions a campaign 
on a large scale would serve a good purpose^ even if it 
brought grief and pain to individual families. '^ 

Das deutsche Armeeblatt, Aug. 26, 1911, quoted by Deputy Bebel 
in the Reichstag, Nov. 9, 1911. 



^'The conviction prevails in wide circles of the population 
that a war would be wholly profitable, inasmuch as it would 
produce a clarification of our precarious political position 
and improve many political and social conditions.'' 

Die Post, Aug. 26, 1911, quoted by Deputy Bebel in the Reichstag, 
Nov. 9. 1911. 



'^ We shall never improve matters at home until we have got 
into severe foreign cominlications — perhaps even into war — 
and have been compelled by such convulsions to bring our- 
selves together." 

Hamburger Nachrichten, June, 1910, W. H. Dawson, What is Wrong 
With Germany, 1915, p. 146. 



''That a state, even when on the very point of making war, 
should solemnly assert its love of peace and its aversion to 
conquest, is nothing; for in the first place it must needs 
make this asseveration and so hide its real intention if it 
would succeed in its design: and the well-known principle, 
'Threaten war that thou mayst have peace,' may also be 
inverted in this way: 'Promise peace that thou mayst begin 
vv^ar with advantage' ; and in the second place, the State 
may be wholly in earnest in its peaceful assurances, so far 

12726°— 17 8 113 



114 CONQUEST AND KULTUE. 

as its self-knowledge has gone; but let the favorable oppor- 
tunity for aggrandizement present itself, and the previous 
good resolution is forgotten/' 

Fichte, quoted by G. Santayana, Egotism in Gennan Philosophy 
(n.d.),p. 79. 



^' The Great Elector^ laid the foundations of Prussia's power 
by successful and deUberately incurred wars. Frederick the 
Great followed in the steps of his glorious ancestor. ^He 
noticed how his state occupied an untenable middle position 
between the petty states and the great powers^ and showed 
his detennination to give a definite character (decider cet 
toe) to this anomalous existence; it had become essential 
to enlarge the territory of the State and corriger la figure de 
la Prusse, if Prussia wished to be independent and to bear 
with honor the great name of kingdom.' [Treitschke.] The 
king made allowance for this political necessity, and took the 
bold determination of challenging Austria to fight. None of 
the wars which he fought had heen forced upon him; none of 
them did he postpone as long as possible. He had always 
determined to be the aggressor, to anticipate his opponents, 
and to secure for himself favorable prospects of success. 
We all know what he achieved. The whole history of the 
growth of the European nations and of mankind generally 
would have been changed had the King lacked that heroic 
power of decision which he showed." 

F, von Bemhardi, Germany and the Next War, (1911), trans. 
1914, pp. 41-42. 



''It is a wretched old-womanish pohcy to consider every- 
thing that happens beyond our borders as not om^ business. 
Every injury to a German student in Prague, every riot in 
Laibach is an insult to the German people and is warrant 
for occupying the territory in question. Consider a moment 
what England or France does when in Egypt or Morocco 
English or French travelers are attacked with clubs and 
revolvers. What haven't we put up with in Prague 1 It is 

1 Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, 1640-1688, who laid the foundations of the 
greatnass of Brandenburg-Prussia. 



CONQUEST AND KULTUE. 115 

a shame. To what end have we the best army in the world? 
* * * We must get to work with the Pan-German idea." 

Taimenberg, Gross - Deutschland : die Arbeit des 20ten Jahr- 
hunderts, 1911, p. 78. 



"The intention of the general staff is to act by surprise. 
^We must put on one side,' said Gen. von Moltke, 'all 
commonplaces as to the responsibihty of the aggressor. 
When war has become necessary it is essential to carry it 
on in such a way as to place all the chances in one's own 
favor. Success alone justifies war. Germany can not and 
ought not to leave Russia time to mobiUze, for she would 
then be obliged to maintain on her eastern frontier so large 
an army that she would be placed in a position of equahty, 
if not of inferiority, to that of France. ^Accordingly,' added 
the general, 'we must anticipate our principal adversary as 
soon as there are nine chances to one of going to war, and 
begin it without delay in order ruthlessly to crush all 
resistance.' " 

Jules Cambon, French ambassador at Berlin, to M. Stephen 
Pichon, minister of foreign affairs, Berlin, May 6, 1913. The 
French Yellow Book, Letter No. 3. 



''We shall arrive at an understanding with England, 
which is desirable from every point of view, only after we 
have crossed swords with her. As long as Germany does 
not consider this necessity as a leading factor in her foreign 
pohcy we shall be condemned to failure in all important 
matters of foreign policy. 

''0/ course we need not 'proclaim these views to all the 
vjorld for the heneiit of our opponents. We may even ear- 
nestly endeavor to work for our purposes by peaceful 
means. However, we must never allow ourselves to enter 
upon a course which hampers om; ultimate aim, and we must 
unceasingly keep before our eyes our true purpose. We 
must, therefore, politically and militarily, prepare ourselves 
for the struggle which is probably unavoidable. Then 
only can we hope for success." 

F. von Bemhardi; Britain as Germany's Vassal, (1912), trans., 
1914, pp. 209-210. 



116 CONQUEST AND KULTUR, 

'^Not only army and navy, but our foreign policy also 
must be ready for immediate action. Our statesmen must 
unceasingly labor to improve the conditions for the approach- 
ing struggle. They may cooperate meanwhile with other 
great powers for particular purposes, but they must con- 
stantly bear in mind that an understanding with the powers 
of the Triple Entente can only be a strictly limited one. 
Therefore Germany's statesmen must he determined to talce to 
arms as soon as our interests are seriously threatened. The 
responsibility of bringing about a necessary war und^r favor- 
able circumstances is much smaller than the responsibility of 
making an unfortunate war inevitable by following a policy 
of present advantage, or by lacking the necessary resolution." 

F, von Bemhardi, Britain as Germany's Vassal, (1912), trans., 
1914, pp. 218-219. 



"It is natural and, within certain limits, politically a 
matter of course that the German Emperor should have 
thought that, until Germany had a strong fleet, we must try 
to Tceep on good terms with England, and even on occasion to 
make concessions.'' 

Graf von Reventlow, Deutsche Auswartige Politik, 1916, p. 60. 



*' Let it be the task then of our diplomacy so to shufflle the 
cards that we may be attacked by France, for then there 
would be reasonable prospect that Russia for a time would 
remain neutral. * * * We must not hope to bring 
about this attack by waiting passively. Neither France 
nor Russia nor England need to attack in order to further 
their interests. So long as we shrink from attack, they can 
force us to submit to their will by diplomacy, as the upshot 
of the Moroccan ^ negotiation shows. 

''If we wish to bring about an attack by our opponents we 
must initiate an active policy, which, without attaclcing France, 
will so prejudice her interests or those of England that both 
those States would feel themselves compelled to attaclc us. 
Opportunities for such procedure are offered both in Africa 
and in Europe." 

Bemhardi, Germany and the Next War, (1911), trans., 1914, 
pp. 278-279. 

'See pp. 120-121. 



CONQUEST AND KULTUE. 117 

^' Never did a people play so mucli with the notion of a 
preventive war as in the last few years, never so criminally. 
As a theme for smoking-room gossip and as the topic of 
conversation of unimportant street politicians, it presents 
great opportunities; it amuses the mob as games of chance 
do children. But when able German generals, such as 
Bemhardi, men of real serious-mindedness and of thought- 
fulness, play variations on the theme, it becomes a public 
danger." 

Neue Rundschau, April, 1913. p. 579. See what Nippold says 
about this notion of "preventive war," below, p. 138. 



'•'To sum up, if public opinion does not actually point at 
France as does the Kolnische Zeitung,^ we are in fact, and 
shall long remain, the nation aimed at. Germany considers 
that for our forty millions of inhabitants our place in the 
sun is really too large." 

Hj 5}: jjc ^ >jc >f{ 

''It must be emphasized again that the Government is 
doing everything to increase patriotic sentiment by cele- 
brating with eclat all the various anniversaries of 1813. 

"The trend of public opinion would result in giving a war 
a more or less national character. By whatever pretext 
Germany should justify the European conflagration, nothing 
can prevent the fii'st decisive blows being struck at France." 

Report of Lieut. Col. Serret, military attache to the French Em- 
bassy at Berlin, to M. Etienne, minister of war, Berlin, Mar. 15, 
1913. The French Yellow Book. See note 1, p. 125. 



"Must wo not, even nov7, be thankful that Russian thirst 
for power, and French ambition^ fostered and encouraged 
by English egoism, did not let the shots ih'ed at Serajevo 
lead to a stem chastisement of Serbia, as moral earnestness 
demanded, but allowed them to swell into the thunder 
rolling through this^ the greatest war which has ever shaken 
the world? Two years too early for our enemies, but an 
act of grace from God for ourselves and our allies. For 

1 This newspaper is said to be ia close relations with the Government. 



118 CONQUEST AND KULTUR. 

now we have the lead in the ii*on game of war; and though 
England may lurk in the background, waiting for her tiu*n 
in the game — ^so be it, England — ^we know exactly what 
trumps you hold, but whether you know ours, coming days 
will show." 

K. Konig, Sechs Krieo^predigten, 1915. Sermon, Sept. 6. [B. 
99-100.] Karl Konig is a writer on philology and pedagogics. 



SECTION XVI. 
THE COMING WAR. 



[Of Napoleon^s reesta^bUshnieiit of oligarchy:] "Was that 
greatest of all antitheses of ideals thereby relegated ad acta 
for all time ? Or only postponed, postponed for a long 
time? May there not take place at some time or other a 
much more awful, much more carefully prepared flaring up 
of the old conflagration? Further: Should not one wish 
that consummation with all one's strength — will it one's 
self — demand it one's seh ? " 

Nietzsche, Genealogy of Morals (1887), 1911, sectioal7. 



"Our aim must be the development of German power with 
aU that it involves. The grouping of all its members into 
one pohtical whole has always been the object of the efforts 
of a virile nation. 

"It must be well done; we must confine our efforts within 
just limits; we must go forward gradually till the moment 
arrives when we can unmaslc our batteries without danger; then 
Europe will find herself faced hy a situation whose smallest 
details have heen prepared and against which she vnll he 
powerless y 

A Universal German Empire [about 1872]. Vergnet, p. 13. 



"It is therefore necessary to convince ourselveSj and to 
convince the generation we have to educate that the time 
for rest has not arrived; that the prediction of a supreme 
struggle, in vjhich the existence and power of Germany vjill he 
at stalce, is by no means a vain chimera emanating from 
the imaginations of a few ambitious madmen; that this 
supreme struggle will hurst forth one day terrihle and mo~ 
mvcntous as all struggles between nations that serve as a pre- 
lude to great political revolutions.'' 

From a speech by General von der Goltz, quoted by Emil Reich, 
Germany's Swelled Head (1907), 1914, pp. 52-53. 

119 



120 CONQUEST AND KULTTJR. 

Count SchlieffeD also points out that the other powers 
can not aflord to remain passive spectators of this contest, 
but are compelled to perfect their own armaments in exactly 
the same way. This, gentlemen, is nothing more or less 
than the admission that Germany has been the motive power in 
arming Europe to her teeth, * * * True enough, we have 
always been told that other states are arming, too. Quite 
so! Other states have always pointed to Germany and 
then armed in their turn, and this has led to an effort on 
our part to become the strongest power — not only on land 
but also on sea. 

Deputy Stiicklein in the Reichstag, Mar, 17, 1909. 



THE MOROCCAN QUESTION. 

Owing to its great natural resources Morocco has long been recognized 
as a profitable field for the investment of European capital. On that 
account, no doubt, and because of the weakness of its government, inter- 
vention by foreign powers has been frequent. Because of the heavy invest- 
ment of French capital and because the prevailing anarchy in Morocco 
threatened French interests in Algeria, France came to be regarded as having 
special interests in Morocco. In 1904, when France gained the assent 
of Britain and the cooperation of Spain in her Moroccan policy, Germany 
said nothing, and Chancellor von Btilow declared that Germany's interests 
in Morocco were purely economic. In 1905 Germany demanded a recon- 
sideration of Moroccan affau's and forced France, against the will of her 
minister of foreign affair's, Deicass^, who resigned in consequence, to come 
to the conference at Algecii'as. That conference discussed placing Morocco 
under international tutelage, but, because France was the only power in a 
position to undertake the necessary task of repressing Moroccan anarchy, 
France was left in charge, subject to certain Spanish rights, and continued 
her work. Germany seemed satisfied, and von Biilow said that Germany 
had no political interests in Morocco. In 1909 Germany and France came 
to an agreement by which France granted equality of treatment to German 
merchants and Germany recognized the political interests of France. 
But, in 1911, when France made disorders in Morocco an occasion for 
penetrating farther into the interior, and when German merchants com- 
plained that they were not getting equality of treatment, Germany for a 
second time opened a closed book. She sent a gunboat to Agadir, on the 
west coast of Africa, as if to establish a port there and tap the hinterland, 
although she had no economic interests in that part of the country. France 
protested vigorously and Britain supported France, an act which the Ger- 
mans regarded as one of pure interference. Matters came very close to 
war. Germany, however, surprised at the extent to which England and 
France were ready to make commoiv cause, and not yet ready to force war 



CONQUEST AND KULTUK. 121 

upon so formidable a combination, recalled her gunboat, accepting com- 
pensation in the French Congo. Her withdrawal, although by no means 
empty-handed, was looked upon by many Germans as a humiliation, and 
German periodicals showed great bitterness. The Pan-Germans refused to 
regard the Moroccan question as closed. Britain, they said, has taken 
Egypt, now France has Morocco; what do we get? From this time it was 
a gi'owing belief among Germans that Germany would have to fight. No 
concessions could banish this belief. Indeed concessions only made her rat- 
tle the sabre more vigorously. Britain, they said, was standing in the way 
of the "place in the sun" to which Germany aspired, and France was be- 
coming too self-confident. In some mysterious and underhand way, they 
felt, Germany's premier position in Europe, won by Bismarck, was be- 
ing taken from her. For the feeling that Germany was being ' ' hemmed in " 
by diplomacy there was perhaps some excuse, yet if Germany had been 
checkmated at certain points, she was much to blame. She had a way 
of forgetting that a bargain is a bargain, and of demanding, with pointed 
pistol, sudden reconsideration. She was too prone to disturb the 
delicate equilibrium of Europe. When she did so other nations 
were likely to yield her something, but they were also likely to become 
more and more afraid o| her and her methods, and. less willing to satisfy 
her aspirations, lest by doing so they should be merely strengthening the 
hands of a relentless enemy. 

Count Brudzewo-Mielzynski quotes a Pan-German pam- 
phlet on the floor of the Reichstag as follows : '' If our appetite 
for land is not satisfied by this [the proposed partition of 
Morocco], we must appeal to tJie sword. Necessity Icnows 
no lawJ^ 

He adds: ^'In these articles there is no thought of a pro- 
tectorate or of any peaceful occupation of territory. No, 
it is brutally demanded again and again that new territory 
be annexed and made German. * * * " 

Count Brudzewo-Mielzynski in Reichstag, Nov. 11, 1911. 



^'It is very characteristic that when the German Emperor 
returned at the end of July from his northern trip and it was 
announced that he and the Chancellor and the Secretary of 
State had determined at a conference in Swinemiinde not to 
begin a war on account of Morocco, a burst of anger and rage 
should come from a great part of the German press ; some of 
them even went so far as to attack the Emperor personally. 
* * * [In an article in the Post of August 4] the Emperor 
is hauled over the coals and accused of having brought 



122 CONQUEST AND KULTUR. 

Germany under the shadow of a ne^ Olmiitz. You hear 
men ask: Have things changed ? Have we become a race of 
women? What has happened to the Hohenzollerns, who 
have produced a Great Elector, a Frederick Wilham I, a 
Frederick the Great, an Emperor WilKam I? The Emperor 
is accused of being the chief support of the x4.Dglo-French 
poHcy, a stronger support than 50 French divisions. He 
is called the hope of France. Can this be true? Is this 
possible? * * * After this article the Post pubhshed 
a series of communications approving it. At the head 
of the hst was a retired octogenarian lieutenant-general, 
who declared that all his comrades felt as he did, and greeted 
the article with enthusiasm; they feared that, as far as 
Germany was concerned, the xigadir affair would end in 
shame and disgrace. The same sentiments were expressed 
by a retired court preacher, and within a few months we 
have seen the spectacle of a part of the Protestant clergy 
in full cry at the heels of the war pack. The Evangehcal 
Church Journal pubhshed an article which concluded with 
these words : ^ From one end of Germany to the other people 
voice hut one question: When do we get our marching orders F' 
And these are the preachers of Christian brotherly love." 

Deputy Bebel (Social-Democrat) in the Reichstag, Nov. 9, 1911. 
Bebel was the leader of the German Socialists up to his death in 1913. 
He was always the antagonist of the German jingoes. 



'The treaty of the 4th November, 1911 [settling the 
Moroccan question], has proved a complete disillusion. 

''The feehng is the same in aU parties. All Germans, 
even the Sociahsts, bear us a grudge for having taken away 
their share in Morocco. 

''It seemed, a year or so ago, as if the Germans had set 
out to conquer the world. They considered themselves so 
strong that no one would dare to oppose them. Limitless 
possibihties were opening out for German manufacturers, 
German trade, German expansion. 

"Needless to say, these ideas and ambitions have not 
disappeared to-day. Germany still requires outlets for 
commercial and colonial expansion. They consider that 



COI^QUEST AND KULTUE. 123 

they are entitled to them, because their population is in- 
creasing every day, because the future belongs to them. 
They consider us, with our 40,000,000 inhabitants, as a 
second-rate power. 

"In the crises of 1911, however, this second-rate power suc- 
cessfully withstood them, and the Emperor and the Government 
gave way. Public opinion has forgiven neither them nor us. 
People are determined that such a thing shall never happen 
again." 

Report of Lieutenant-Colonel Serret, Military Attache to the 
French Embassy at Berlin, to M. Etienne, Minister of War, Berlin, 
March 15, 1913. The French Yellow Book. 



"During the year following the last Moroccan crisis, the 
feeling has taken hold of practically the whole of the German 
nation that a great European war is the only means by which 
we could hope to obtain free scope for the pursuit of our world- 
policy. General Friedrich von Bernhardi's book, Germany 
and the Ifext War, has played a prominent part in voicing 
and, at the same time, in furthering that feeling. The 
literary qualities of this book as well as the high authority 
of its author have attracted the attention of wide circles far 
beyond the German frontiers." 

Deutsche Weltpolitik und kein Krieg, 1913, p. 1. In various 
issues of the Alldeutsche Blatter this anonymous work is attributed 
to some one standing close to Bethmann-Hollweg. Its pacific spirit 
makes its testimony all the more significant. 



^'The Imperial Chancellor has laid special stress on the 
great political significance which he attributes to the fact 
that we have, as he sa3^s, succeeded for the first time in 
establishing, by means of an agreement, friendly relations 
of mutual advantage between France and ourselves and in 
arriving at a settlement which, in his words, may be expected 
to satisfy both parties. He looks upon this as a step toward 
a permanent reconciliation between these two great nations. 

"Well, gentlemen, I for one can not altogether share that 
opinion. I can well understand that France feels quite 



124 CONQUEST AND KULTUE. 

satisfied under the circumstances. But I do not indulge in 
any illusions, as if this could induce them to bury the hopes 
which are still ahve in France to-day. Our peace is safe- 
guarded not by such accommodations nor by agreements 
and understandings, but only by our trusty German sword 
and at the same time by the feeling, which is probably in 
the minds of the French, and quite rightly too, that we also 
hope to see to it that there shall he a Government which is 
determined not to let that sword rust when the proper time 
comes, ^ 

Von Heydebrand, Conservative Agrarian leader, in Reichstag, 
Nov. 9, 1911. See note on p. 129. 



" Gentlemen, Herr von Heydebrand has suggested that the 
Imperial Chancellor ought to have said: 'Since we did not 
succeed in obtaining what we wanted in the Morocco con- 
vention, we mean to stand back and await events.' But 
Herr von Heydebrand has admitted himself that he can 
Qot tell us what he could have proposed over and above 
w^hat has been arranged in that convention, as far as Ger- 
many is concerned; he said it was difficult to make any such 
proposals if one was not in control of affairs. But the course 
of action which you propose, Herr von Heydebrand, would 
have involved nothing less than war. ('Hear, hear!' from 
the Social-Democrats.) For what would have been the 
consequence if no agreement had been reached between 
France and Germany — if what you wish had come about, and 
the conference had been dissolved without achieving any 
results ? There would have been mad outbursts of the war 
spirit in both countries alike. ('Hear, hear!' from the 
Social-Democrats.) War woidd have been urged by all 
possible means and would have become inevitable." 
Deputy Bebel in the Reichstag, Nov. 9, 1911. 



''Gentlemen, yesterday the discussion touched upon the 
meetings of protest and the attacks directed against the Gov- 
ernment. It is certain that last summer there was only one 



CONQUEST AND KULTUR. 125 

pervading sentiment which, so far as I am concerned, I sin- 
cerely deplore. In the press, in public assembhes, attacks were 
made upon the Government, upon the wearer of the crown — • 
violent and, as I beheve, unjustifiable attacks. The Pan- 
German League arranged a meeting of protest in Berlin. 
Our colleague. Deputy Lattmann, spoke there, as well as 
the Conservative member of the Prussian Diet, von Boh- 
lendorff. The tone was relatively mild, but in the secret 
conference preceding this meeting violent reproaches were 
uttered and passionate speeches were made. This was well 
known to me. In the assembly itself a battle song was 
given out, a war hymn that is characteristic of the feeling of 
these days. It contained this remarkable stanza: 

' We swing the good old sword : 

It shines in morning light. 
Hurrah! It flashes forth 

And won't be sheathed again. 
Though you sweat blood and water, 

It cleaves unto the bone.' " 

Dr. Wiemer (Social Democrat) in the Reichstag, Nov. 10, 1911. 



^'It is not merely on account of vain prophecies based on 
the random guesses of superstition that, for a long time 
past, the year 1913 has been looked upon as a time of crisis,^ 
but — notwithstanding the longing which makes itself felt 
at the present moment for a relaxation of the poHtical 
tension — the events and prospects in the domain of inter- 
national politics have actually taken a turn which makes it 
inevitable that, in a fast-approaching future, one of two 
alternatives must take place. Either a settlement of 
accounts, direct or indirect, between the two Anglo-Germanic 
nations of Europe, or an honest understanding which assures 
Germany the rights which are her due and enables her to 
satisfy her own pressing need for an expansion of her world 
poHcy." 

Arthur Dix in Leipziger Tageblatt, Dec. 81, 1912. [N. p. 50.] 

1 That 1913 was the hundredth anniversary of the great rising of Prussia against 
Napoleon seemed to many Germans significant. Perhaps 1913 was to be the year when 
the inevitable war would break out. See pp. 138-39; p. 99; p. 117. 



126 CONQUEST AND KULTUB. 

'' Morocco is easily worth a big war, or even several. At 
the hest — and even prudent Germany is hecoming convinced 
of this — war is only postpaned and not abandoned. Is such 
postponement to our advantage? * * * They say we must 
wait for a better moment. Wait for the deepening of the Kiel 
Oanal, for our naval program to have taken fuU effect. It is 
not exactly diplornatic to announce publicly to one^s adversaries: 
' To go to vjar now does not tempt us, but three years hence we 
shull unchain the world war.' * * « No; if a war is realty 
planned, not a word of it must be spoTcen. One^s designs must 
be enveloped in profound mystery. Then brusguely, all of a 
sudden, one jumps upon the enemy in the darlcnessJ' 

Albrecht Wirth, Unsere Aussere Politik, 1912, pp. 35-36. 



THE CHALLENGE TO ENGLAND ON THE SEAS. 

It has been the consistent policy of the British Government to maintain 
a navy as large as that of any two continental powers combined. To 
Germany this policy seemed a threat. If Germany's world trade grew 
too rapidly, the envious English might suddenly destroy it, they said. 
The British said that their island position made a navy as large as any 
other two an absolute necessity. To so great a degree, they said, is Britain 
dependent upon the outside world for food and supplies, that if her navy 
lost the control of the seas around the island for six weeks she would have 
to surrender on her enemies' terms. Hence the English have been un- 
willing to risk a one-sided reduction in dreadnaughts. Nevertheless, from 
1906 on the Liberal Government in Britain sought better relations with 
Germany. They proposed that Britain and Germany should make an 
agreement to limit the building of dreadnaughts. To show its good will, 
the British Government reduced its naval program of 1906. Germany's 
answer was to accelerate her program. By 1909 it was becoming e\'ident 
that the German Navy was gaining on the British, and there was great 
alarm in Britain, so great that popular sentiment forced the Government 
to increase its naval program. Yet, in 1911 Winston Churchill, First Lord 
of the Admiralty, proposed a ''naval holiday." Germany would not Ksten 
to such a plan. In 1912 Secretaiy Haldane, a member of the British Govern- 
ment and a man favorably known in Geimany, was sent to Berlin to get 
some arrangement. The Liberal Government in England mshed to reduce 
its building program so that more money could be spent on social reforms. 
The German Government would do nothing unless Britain would agree, in 
case of war between Germany and France, to hold aloof. Haldane was willing 
to pledge Britain to stay out unless France were attacked . This the Geiman 
Government regarded a5 unsatisfactory. It did, however, make some 
concession for the year in its naval program, to which Britain at once re- 
sponded. But there was no permanent change in the German policy of 



COI^QUEST AXD KULTUR. 127 

forcing the pace. Perhaps Germany hoped, as an influential memher of 
the Reichstag suggested, that England would be unable to keep up. It 
will be observed in the extracts which follow that the Gei*man Social- 
Democrats fully realized that it was their country that was to blame for 
pressing naval armament. Nowhere has the case against Germany been 
put more cogently — or truly — than in the Reichstag by such men as 
Da^^Ld and Haase. 

''Our Emperor knows that an insult to him [English in- 
dignation at the Kaiser's telegram to Kruger at the time of 
the Jameson raid] is an insult to the Nation, and that the day 
of atonement will come; for God's mills grind slow but sure. 
And he may have thought to himself amid the rush of things : 
'Be quiet, my sword, thy day will come!' * * * She 
[England] knows that she has no friend. That we are not 
her friends both the past and the present testify. The future 
will bring the settlement. For there are no invincible ene- 
mies of the Kultur nations; there shall not be." 

Richard Du Moulin-Eckart, England und die Machte, 1901, p. 79. 
Moulin-Eckart is professor of history in the Teclinische Hochschule 
at Munich and a writer on history and politics. 



[After discussing the tension between Germany and Eng- 
land as the chief problem of foreign policy, Deputy David 
alludes to the efforts of some parties to hush discussion.] 
"This is not at all my opmion. No; the Reichstag has not 
only the right but the duty to look this question squarely 
in the face and to make clear the dangers of this tendency, and 
to arouse the conscience of the German people, lest if things 
go on in this way the m.ost serious complications will ulti- 
mately ensue. * * * Gentlemen, we are facing the results of 
our German naval agitation. England has now presented the 
bill which has been incurred by these advocates of our naval 
pohcy. * * * Gentlemen, it is wJiolly the fault of the Ger- 
man Government that it has come to this. * ^ * The Lib- 
eral Government in England has from the first moment, from 
the very beginning of the year 1906, declared that they were 
ready to take up the question of the limitation of arma- 
ments." 

Deputy David (Social-Democrat) in Reichstag, Mar. 16, 1910. 
For the amplification of this, see pp. 49-50. 



128 CONQUEST AND KULTUR. 

'^Gentlemen, that the English now choose to forget these 
things [the reference is to alleged English interference in 
the Morocco affair] and profess to know nothing about them, 
after they have not succeeded in embroiHng France and 
Germany in a war which might not have been to England's 
disadvantage — that they choose to forget just at the present 
moment; is natural enough from the English point of view. 
But we Germans have not forgotten. And we can not but 
ask ourselves if all that we have had to go through was only 
a dream and did not really happen at all. Is it not a fact 
that an ambassador to a certain European court made 
remarks in regard to us and our German pohcy which must 
bring a blush to our cheeks? That this could have hap- 
pened, gentlemen, is the grave fact of the situation, and no 
one can get away from this by professing that he knows 
nothing about it. We know about it, and — ^hke a flash in 
the night — this has shown the German people where the 
enemy is to be foimd, [Vigorous applause from the Eight 
and the National Liberals.] The German people know now 
when they wish to expand on this earth and to find a place 
in the sun, the place to which they are entitled by their 
rights and their destiny; they know now who it is who 
arrogates to himself the right to decide whether that is to 
be permitted or not. [Vigorous applause from the Right, 
the Center, and the National Liberals.] Gentlemen, we 
Germans are not accustomed to put up with that, and the 
German people will know how to reply. If the Imperial 
Government has made a reply, if they have given a German 
answer to that Enghsh question — I hope they have given it; 
I should have been glad to have heard it ; but the German 
people wiU know what that answer ought to be Hke when the 
time comes. For their very existence as a nation is at 
stake, and no people, least of aU the Germans, will let that 
be taken away from them. And therefore I say it is for the 
Government to choose the hour. It is not only the right 
but also the duty of the Government to face that decision, 
and we trust that, in doing so, they will pay due regard to 
the honor of the German nation. And we Germa-ns shall 
he ready — / would have this understood — to maJce any 
sacrijices that are necessary^ whenever they are required, 
[Uproarious interruptions on the Left,] I cannot shout 



CONQUEST AXD KULTUE. 129 

louder than jou. Have some patienceo I am just going 
to give you my answer. [A voice from the Left: ''It is ail 
very well for you to talk."]" 

Deputy von HeydebrancI (the "uncrowned king of Prussia") in 
the Reichstag, Nov. 9, 1911. This speech was warmly applauded by 
the Crown Prince, who was present. No other speech in the Reich- 
stag in recent years has made such a sensation. In this speech, 
approved by the Crown Prince, the leader of the feudal Prussian 
nobility, practically served notice that he and his kind would not 
tolerate the failure to seize another occasion to make war. Through- 
out this outburst of the most typical Junker leader there is the same 
spirit, even the same phrases about a place in the sun and Germany's 
existence at stake, that have been heard over and over since the mur- 
der of the Austrian archduke gave the war party the opportunity von 
Heydebrand thought they had missed in 1911. 



'^Permit me to say that the sentiments expressed yesterday 
hy Deputy von Reydehrand find an echo in thousands, yes, 
millions of German hearts. We members of the Reichstag are 
charged with the duty of giving expression to these views 
and sentiments of our nation." 

Deputy Lattmann in Reichstag, Nov. 10, 1911. Lattmann is an 
active Pan-German. 



^^What does Morocco or the Congo signify compared v/ith 
the knowledge that over there, on the other side of the 
Channel, is our most envious foe, and that we are doing 
notliing to defend ourselves against him; that we are not 
pursuing the path we had chosen, regardless of what England 
may say ? You, members of the Reichstag, tell us how many 
ships does it taJce, how much do they cost ? We are ready 
to put up the m.oneyJ^ 

The Magdeburger Zeitung, end of October, 1911. Quoted by 
Deputy Eebel in the Reichstag, Nov. 9, 1911. 



' 'Deputy Bebei said yesterday that w^hen we build 10 
dreadnaughts England will build 20. My reply is: The time 
will come when England w^ill not have the sailors to man 
these 20 dreadnaughts. It is no business of ours what 

12726°— 17 9 



130 COXQUEST AXD KL^LTUE. 

England does. Our sole concern is with wliat we tpmsI do 
so tJiat England vjiUfear a war with us. That is our duty.'' 

Deputy Bruhn in Reichstag, Nov. 10, 1911. Bralm is a news- 
paper publisher. 



^^I would remind you of the days when England proffered 
her hand to us, trying to bring about better relations, and 
we refused to take it. * * * 

''I have further to confess that I can not see a comraendable 
innovation in what happened here yesterday, w^hen the 
heir to the throne made a pubhc demonstration from the 
gallery of this chamber against the policy which the re- 
sponsible head of the Government has followed.'' 

Deputy Dr. Wiemer (Social-Democrat) in the Reichstag, Nov. 
10, 1911. 



^^The desire to live in peace and friendship with the Ger- 
mans exists not only among the English ruling classes but 
also among all ranks of English society. * * * 

''In England there exist no deeply grounded prejudices 
against Germany. The number of those who do not wish 
well to Germany is very small and their ill will springs 
from the feeUng of mistrust which the rapid growth of the 
German navy has brought about. The rapid growth of the 
German navy has, of course, made necessary a corresponding 
increase of the Enghsh navy, which for the protection of the 
Enghsh island Empire is simply indispensable. 

''The assertion often heard that the growth of German 
trade had roused envy and hate in England against Ger- 
many, is absolutely mistaken. The English have a proverb 
that competition is the life of trade. That competition 
has powerfully stimulated English business and advanced 
it. Furthermore, the English merchants are not so short- 
sighted as to be jealous of Germany's welfare, for they know 
well enough that they can do a much bigger business with a 
rich Germany than with a defeated and impoverished Grer- 
many. The assertion often heard in Germany that from 
commercial envy England would hke to destroy the German 
navy is ridiculous. 



CONQUEST AND KULTUB. 131 

'*It ought to become positively easy to destroy th.e existing 
prejudices in England against Germany by frank discussion. 
In Germany the situation is quite different. There one 
will find important elements in the population and espe- 
cially of the rank and file of the common people who are 
bitterly prejudiced against England, and the ill will against 
England is so gi'eat that the body of the people at the time 
of the Morocco crisis would have hailed an Anglo-German 
war with enthusiasm, without taldng account of the conse- 
quences of such a war. That may seem exaggerated, but the 
author was at the time in Germany and observed with much 
pain the prevailing excitement. Fortunately the rulers did 
not allow themselves to be turned aside by the passions 
of the masses. The danger is that at another opportunity 
the German Government v/iil perhaps not be in a position 
to resist the wishes of the people, and will begin a war with 
England to save [not Germany butl itself.'' 

Sir Max Waecliter, Deutsche Revue, May, 1913. Sir Max Waech- 
ter is a naturalized Englishman, who was born and grew up in Ger- 
many, and has been back there many times. He is here writing 
in a well-known German periodical to urge better relations between 
the two nations. 



^' The land hunger of our people must once for aU besatisfied. 
But how and where that m^ay happen — its satisfaction never 
would be possible unless we were to match the English 
navy. No matter what decisions took place on land, if we 
have not reached the point where we are a match for England, 
we have no right to think of over-sea politics." 

Admiral Breusing, at a Pan-German celebration in Breslau, re- 
ported in the Alldeutsche Blatter, September 13, 1913. 



" Gentlemeu, it is quite true that a considerable number even 
of our artisans, our small tradesmen, our officials — of our 
middle classes in short — have beeji infected with this unpe- 
rialistic maAia. They have either been mtoxicated by the 
nationalistic claptrap, or they are sufferijig from the delu- 
sion that they will share the benefits accruing from a policy 
of conquest. There is no doubt that there is a terrible 
awakening in store for them; some of them will soon come 



132 COXQUEST AXD KULTUE. 

to see matters in tlieir true liglit, and then they will sigh and 
groan on, account of the increasing burdens." 

Deputy Haase (Social-Democrat), in the Reichstag, Apr. 22, 1912. 



"When Frederick the Great saw that powerful enemies 
were about to crush him, he struck first without waiting for 
their mortal blow. In Germomy to-day no responsible ])er- 
son doubts tJiat tJie Triple Entente is about to crusJi us. We 
all Icnow blood will certainly flow, and tJie raore tJie longer v:e 
wait. There are only a few who dare to advise us to imi- 
tate Frederick's example. And there is none who dares to 
do the deed. 

"Why? 

" Certainly it is not fear. For that can not influence those 
who know that th^ peril is inevitable, and that it will be all 
the more terrifying if we wait for it rather than choose our 
own time. 

"Again, what men are most honored in the history of the 
nation? Wliat names fire the German heart with the deep- 
est passion? Not Goethe, Schiller, Wagner, Marx. No. 
It is Barbarossa, Frederick the Great, Biiicher, Moitke, Bis- 
marck, the men of blood and iron — it is they, who have sac- 
rificed thousands of fives, for whom the German people 
cherish their tenderest feelings and a gratitude which almost 
amounts to worship. Because they have done what we ought 
to do to-day. Because they were brave above aU others 
and cheerfully faced the responsibihty. Middle-class mo- 
rality, however, only condemns ah these great men; for 
the Philistine is more jealous of his middle-class morality 
than of anything else, and yet he renders tribute with thriUs 
of devotion to the bloody deeds of those Titans. 

"AH this proves incontestably that the German people 
possess suflScient penetration to recognize the inexorable 
demands of the present, and that they have sufficient honor 
and sufficient national imagination and instinct to venerate 
the personification of power and to see that the situation 
calls for the sword." 

Dr. W. Fuchs, a distinguished physician, in Die Post, January 28, 
1912. [X. p. 2.] 



CONQUEST AND KULTUS. 133 

* * * ^^The chairman of the local brancii, Baron von 
Yietiiighoff-Scheel; in welcoming the guests, reminded them 
of the glorious times of 42 years ago. Since then, our nation 
has grown by leaps and bounds in numbers, wealth, knowl- 
edge, and abilities. Quite recently, however, its standing 
among other nations has been declining, and discontent 
makes itself felt at Jiorae. The latter must be accounted for 
by the fact that our frontiers are hecoming too narroio. We 
must develop an appetite for land; w^e must acquire new 
territories for settlement, if we do not want to become a 
declining nation, a stunted race. We have to think of the 
future of our people and of our children in a spirit of genuine 
love, no matter if we are called war-mongers and brawlers. 

^ 5ji J|i ^tC ^ 

^'The last speaker of the evening, His Excellency von 
Wrochem, entreated his hearers to keep their povfder dry 
and to see to it that the sharp edge of the German sword 
remained intact. With their increasing prosperity, the 
Germans came to be 'fonder of gold than of iron; senti- 
mentalism and the maunderings of our humanitarians and 
pacifists have exposed Germanism to the danger of being 
overcome by cosmopoUtanism, a.nd this went so far that our 
Emperor actually was to have been offered the Nobel prize. 
It is quite true that we are meant to serve, but that does not 
mean that we are meant to cringe and to fawn, and our 
convictions must be more precious to us than holding office. 
May our younger generation grow up in this spirit and he 
ready for the coming day, the fateful day of the 'final issue of 
arms hy which it shall he decided whether Germany is to he or 
not to heJ^ 

From tlie report of the General Meeting of the Pan German League 
in the Erfurter Allgemeiner Anzeiger, Sept. 9, 1912. [N. pp. 72-73.] 



After a short interval, Lieutenant General Liebert con- 
tinued the discussion. 

a>H * * Germany is pursuing a miserable policy 
of Philistinism. [Applause.] What do we see, as we 
look around? Enemies on all sides. The three greatest 
military powers which the world has ever seen are arrayed 
against us. And the German Empire has to rely on itself 



134 COIiTQUEST AITD KULTUE. 

alone^ for its ally is engaged in the soutlieast. Three 
millions of men we have to send to the west and one million 
to the east. People talk of a year of fire, a year of flood, and 
a year of blood ; when spring comes once more tlie time may 
have arrived for the great powers to clash. Therefore it 
is necessary for the German people to stand together and 
be strong. 

a* * >f: There is a smell in the air as of Mood, and no 
one can know when and where the torch of war is going to 
flare up. But when that day comes, we will think of the 
times of our youth." 

From the report of a meeting of the Pan-German League in the 
Braunschweiger Neueste Nachrichten, Dec. 3, 1912. [N. p. 76.] 



"Gentlemen^ the thing that is now inducing these contin- 
ually increasing armaments, which now amount almost to a 
mania, is the policy of world power which the German Empire 
is following. None of my colleagues have any idea of ren- 
dering the Empire defenseless, but we certainly are deter- 
mined to oppose with all the power at our command this 
lust of conquest so noticeable among our people.'' 

Deputy Haase (Social-Democrat), in the Reichstag, Apr. 22, 1912. 



GERMAN MILITARY LAW OF 1913. 

The German military law of 1913 increased the German Army by 
136,000 officers and men, raising it to a total of 866,000 men of all grades 
and services. ,It was originally offered as an excuse for the measure that 
Germany's ally, Turkey, had been weakened by the Balkan wars. Since 
the war it has been alleged that this increase was merely a reply to the 
preparations of France and Russia. A comparison of dates disposes of this 
story. The German military increase was first formulated in November, 
1912, openly discussed in January, 1913, and finally passed June 30. The 
French law for three years' service was formulated in February, 1913, by 
a cabinet alarmed at Germany's new plan and was passed July 19 of the 
same year. It met with much opposition and was passed only because of 
the fear evoked by the new German law. The Russian project was formu- 
lated in March, 1913, as a necessary reply to the German proposals. Both 
Russia and France were forced to increase their armament by Germany's 
move. Many Germans, indeed, 'refused to see the necessity of the new 
law. One of the Reichstag deputies, Dr. Potthef, wrote in the Berlinel* 
Tageblatt (April 3, 1913): "What they ask of us is not a peace measure; it 



COISTQUEST AND KULTUK. 135 

is simply a mobilization." But the ofScial ne^vspapers acclaimed it, and 
showed as well that it was indeed no peace measure. ''This security," 
stated the semi-official Kolnische Zeitung on June 28, 1913, "gives us a 
free road towards a profitable world policy. We are yet but at the starting 
point. Long roads, full of promise, open before us in Asia and in Africa." 
Such were the aims of a "defensive measure." 



^'Gentlemen, it has been said that we are compelled to in- 
crease our army, because France is going to introduce com- 
pulsory service for the term of three years. Whoever says 
that falsifies the real facts of the case, for without our army 
hill France would not have dreamt of introducing the three- 
yea^rs^ service hill. (^^Hear, hear/' from the Social Demo- 
crats.) Even now, after the first excitement has calmed 
down, it is already quite plain that there is just as little 
desire in France on the part of the masses of the population 
to shoulder these new personal and economic burdens. 
(^^Hear, hear," from the Social Democrats.) The propa- 
ganda in French mihtary circles for the three years' service 
had made no impression at all and was an absolute failure, 
until the announcement of the German Army bill in the Post 
brought grist to the mill of those agitators." 
Deputy Haase in the Reichstag, Apr. 7, 1913. 



" That Gerraanfs armaments could not hut lead to simi- 
lar measures in other countries was as natural as anything 
coidd he. Surely, the German Govermnent can not have 
been so naiive as to imagine that the increase of the 
German army would remain without any military effects in 
France and Russia. Wliat has come to pass is exactly what 
anyone must have foreseen who has Vv^atched the develop- 
ment of armaments during the last few decades. In Russia, 
an increase in the expenditure for the army has been an- 
nounced by the Minister of Finances, which formes his reply 
to the German army bill, and in France, the increase of the 
German army, as planned by the ruling classes, has given 
rise to a feverish com^petition in armaments. * * * Again 
and again it has been pointed out in France during the last 
few months — and in my opinion quite fairly — that the recent 
alterations in regard to the organization of the French army 
must be looked upon solely as ameasure of defense. Only in 



136 COXQUEST AXD KULTUE. 

the shape of a measure of defense could the French Goyern- 
ment have dared to propose the reintroduction of compulsory 
military service for the term of thi*ee years. * * * / 
venture to say that no French minister could have dared 
to expect the French people to submit to this reintroduction 
of the term of three years, lohich is now under consideration, 
if it had not heenfor the Germain army hiU.'^ 

Deputy Noske (Social-Democrat), in the Eeichstag, June 10, 1913. 



"We are all familiar with the speech that General von 
der Goltz made recently at the meeting of Young Germany, 
in which he said, among other things, ^ Oh, if we could only 
have another war soon.' Such are the ideas put forth by the 
professional soldiers." 

Deputy Scheidemann, in the Reichstag, April 8, 1913. 



"What our people are longing for is a great national purpose. 
Our present policy seems to be one of mere seK-preservation. 
But a progressive nation, advancing by such strides as we do, 
needs more territory for the employment of its energies, and 
if that is not to he hadJjy peaceful means there is nothing left 
hut war. It is the taslc of the Defense Association (^Wehr- 
verein') to arouse the people to a recognition of this fact J ^ 

From a speech by General von Wrochem, in the local branch of 
the Defense Association {Wehrverdn), as reported in the Danziger 
Neueste Nachrichten, March 6, 1913. [N. p. 84.] 

" This state of things can not continue forever. It calls 
for a decision. The longing for permanent peace is impos- 
sible of realization, and it has effeminating tendencies. A 
just war is better by far. Nay, better even to fight and be 
beaten than never to Jmve fought at all. Nor do we lack a 
great national purpose. When the earth was divided among 
the other great powers, Germany's hands remained prac- 
tically empty. But Germany, with her ever increasing, 
inexhaustible increase of human beings, wants more land 
for them to settle in * * *." 

From an address by General von Wrochem, in the Wehrverein, as 

reported in the Hannoverscher Cornier, Februar^^ 20, 1913. [N . p. 

83.] 



CONQUEST AIs^D KULTUE. 137 

'^The reaiity is the permanent threatening of war. 
Whether it comes from here, from. England, or France, it is 
potentially behind every incident that attests antagonisms. 
That is the truth y/hich all meanly hearts have to face. 
In France you are blinded by illusions. You dream, you 
revel, in the luxury of humxanitarian ideas. You believe in 
justice, goodness, peace, fraternity; and that is a very dan- 
gerous state of things. You say, ^War^ violence, and con- 
quest are things of the past, out of fashion, and altogether 
pla3^ed out.' But I ansvxr you, ^ War As not out of fashion, 
it^s a tiling of to-morrow,^ " 

Quoted from Herr Kerr, in an interview with Georges Bourdon. 
The German Enigma, 1914, p. 173. See note, p. 76. 



A geeman's sober estimate of the war spirit. 

The following is the testimony of Otfried Nippold, until recently professor 
of church history at Jena. On his return from a residence of several years 
in Japan he was shocked to observe the extraordinary growth of jingoism in 
Germany. He gathered in most careful fashion a collection of statements ad- 
vocating war and conquest made in the years 1912-1913 by prominent men, 
by well-known associations, and by leading newspapers. At the end of his 
book of more than a hundred pages this German scholar made the following 
judicious statement of the situation: 

''The evidence submitted in this book amounts to an irre- 
futable proof that a systematic stimnlatioii of tlie v/ar spirit 
is going on, based on the one hand on the Pan-German League 
and on the other on the agitation of the Defense Association 
(Wehrverein). One can not but feel deep regret in observing 
the fact that in Germany, as well as in other countries, ill-feel- 
ing against other states and nations is being stirred up so 
unjustifiably and that people are being so unscrupulously 
incited to war. * * * 

''But apart from these chauvinists of a more harmless kind , 
who indulge only occasionally in chauvinistic utterances^ we 
have come upon other speakers and writers — and they are 
decidedly in the majority, so far as the passages quoted in 
these pages are concerned — who deal with the matter in a 
different, that is to say in a much more thoroughgoing, way. 
These men do not only occasionally incite people to war, but 
systema,tically they inculcate a desire for war in the minds of 



138 CONQUEST AN-D KULTUB. 

the German people. Not only in the sense that they ought 
to be prepared for war and ready for ail eventualities, but in 
the much more far-reaching sense that they want war. War 
is represented not merely as a possibility that might arise, 
but as a necessity that must come about, and the sooner the 
better. In the opinion of these instigators, the German 
Nation needs a war; a long-continued peace seems regrettable 
to them just because it is a peace, no matter whether there 
is any reason for war or not, and therefore, in case of need, 
one must simply strive to bring it about. * * * 

" From this dogma [that war must come] it is only a step 
to the next chauvinistic principle, so dear to the heart of 
our soldier politicians who are languishing for war — the 
fundamental principle of the aggressive or preventive v/ar. 
If it be true that war is to come, then let it come at the 
moment which is most favorabk to ourselves. In other 
words do not wait until there is a reason for war, but strike 
when it is most convenient. * * * And above all as soon 
as possible. * * * 

'^ We have already described the motive forces, the nation- 
alist press, organizations like the Pan-German League and 
the Defense Association, soldier politicians like Generals Keim, 
Liebert, Bernhardi, Eichhorn, Wrochem, etc., pohticians such 
as Maximilian Harden, Bassermann, and their like. * * * 

^^The desire of the political visionaries in the Pan-German 
camp for the conquest of colonies suits the purpose of our 
warlike generals very weU; but to them this is not an end, 
but only a means. War as such is what really matters to 
them. For if their theory holds good, Germany, even if she 
conquered ever so m.any colonies, would again be in need of 
war after a few decades, since otherwise the German Nation 
would again be in danger of moral degeneration. The truth 
is that, to them, war is a quite normal institution of inter- 
national intercourse and not in any way a means of settling 
great international conflicts — not a means to be resorted to 
only in case of great necessity.'^ 

***** 

'^One of the principal arguments which are at present used 
in order to hypnotize the masses is the analogy of the year 
1813. Attempts are made to manufacture a similarity 
between 1813 and 1913 which is not in any way warranted 



GOlsqjJEST AND KULTUS. 139 

by facts. ^Yhereas, a hundred years ago, tlie German people 
were compelled to fight for their most sacred possessions, 
to-day there is no reason whatever for a war, unless it be 
the wish of the army to give once more practical proof of 
its efhciency. But it is, of course, not possible to take that 
reason seriously. There is no real issue to-day anywhere 
between Germa.ny and the powers of the Triple Entente 
which could be said to make war unavoidable. But that is 
exactly where the tragedy comes in for those who are inciting 
the people to war, and here we also find an explanation for 
the increased agitation in which they are at present engaged — ■ 
I mean in the fact that they can not show any real point of 
conflict based on the actual state of international politics. 
As a matter of fact, if Germany is in any danger to-day, 
it comes from vvithin rather than from without. The Balkan 
War, it is true, seemed at last to provide those who are in 
favor of war with the longed-for opportunity to strike. 
But now they are all the more disappointed that even this 
opportunity, which seemed to promise the last great issue 
in European politics, has apparently passed by in peacy. 
And in the absence of any real causes of war, of any natural 
sources of political antagonism against the other States of 
Europe, they nov/ find themselves compelled to create 
artificial causes. But this can only be done hy manu- 
facturing excitement among the population, by stirring up 
nationalistic feeling, and by the systematic cultivation of a 
warlike spirit — tasks which are being sedulously attended to 
by our war-loving generals in the Pan-G-erman league, the 
Defense Association ( Welirverein) and similar organizations." 
Otfried Nippold, Der deutsche Chauvinismus, 1913, p. 113, et seq. 



THE KAISER WON FOR WAR. 

"In the end a continual dropping will wear out a stone. 
It is interesting to observe the gradual change in the Em- 
peror's views during the last three years, from 1911 to 1914. 
In 1910 the Emperor William could still discuss with the 
French Minister Pichon, the idea of a union of all civilized 
States and express his approval of the idea. In the previous 
year, in 1909, speaking at Cuxhaven, he emphasized that 



140 CONQUEST A^B KULTUR. 

peace was needed in equal measure by all civilized nations 
'to enable them to discharge undisturbed the great tasks of 
culture involved in their economic and commercial develop- 
ment.' In 1911, he emphasized, in a speech delivered in 
Hamburg, that economic competition between nations could 
not be fought out by one party striking at the other, but only 
by each nation straining its capacity to the highest point. 
On New Year's Day, 1911, in an address to the diplomatists, 
he still eulogized the peaceful understanding existing between 
the nations, which was more in accordance with their in- 
terest than the conduct of dangerous wars. But in his 
speeck at Hamburg on June 18, 1912, a different note is 
already sounded: ^Not inconsiderately must we raise the 
standard where we are not sure that we shall be able to 
defend it,' This speech was delivered six months after the 
Morocco convention, and anyone who can read between the 
lines may abeady detect the influence which the criticism of 
the Emperor's peaceful policy had begun to exercise on the 
thoughts of the Emperor; lie no longer rejects war under all 
circumstances, but if war must come, it is to be, according 
to the saying of Clausewitz, a continuation of policy hj 
other means — that is, of course, on the assumption that the 
standard can be defended; in other words, that we are 
stronger than the other side. In the next year, at the boister- 
ous banquets in commemoration of the War of Liberation 
of 1813, this military note more and more suppressed the 
notes of peace. An intoxication appeared to have seized 
the whole of Germany, a new intoxication of freedom, from 
what bondage no one knew. This drunkenness was arti- 
ficially produced by the fiery beverages which an un- 
scrupulous patriotic press had for many a year and day 
poured out to the German Nation. Even those occupying 
the highest positions were unable to escape this condition 
of intoxication, A true epidemic of patriotism broke out, 
setting high and low, young and old, in a fever of ecstasy." 
J'Accuse! by a German, 1915, pp. 136-37. See note, p. 141. 



" If I may be allowed to draw a conclusion, I would submit 
that it would bo well to take account of this jiew factor, 
namely, that the Emperor is becoming used to an order of 



CONQUEST AXD KULTUE. 141 

ideas vjMcJi were formerly repugnant to Jiim, and that^ to 
borrow from him a phrase which he Ukes to use, 'Wo must 
keep our powder dry.' " 

Jules Cambon, French Ambassador at Berlin, to M. Stephen 
Pichon, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Berlin, Nov. 22, 1913. The 
French Yellow Book, Letter No. 6. 



''The person addressed by the Emperor [The King of the 
Belgians] had thought up till then, as did all the world, that 
William II, whose perso^ai influence had been exerted oa 
many critical occasions in support of peace, was still in the 
same state of mind. He found him this time completely 
changed. The German Emperor is no iojiger in his eyes the 
champion of peace against the warlike tendencies of certain 
parties in Germany, William II has come to tkiak tliat war 
witk France is inevitable, and that it must come sooner or 
later. Naturally he believes in the crushing superiority of 
the German Army and in its certain success. 

' ' General von MGltl<:e spolce exactly in the same strain as Ms 
sovereign. He, too, declared war to he necessary and in- 
evitable, hut lie sJiovjed Mmself still m^ore assured of suc- 
cess, ' Forf lie said to tlie King [Albert of Belgium], Hliis 
time tlie matter must he settled, and your Majesty can have 
no conception of the irresistible enthusiasm with which the 
whole Gerraan people will he carried^ a^vjay vjhen that day 
comes.' " ^ 

Jules Cambon, French Ambassador at Berlin, to M. Stephen 
Pichon, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Berlin, Nov. 22, 191.3. The 
French Yellow Book, Letter No. 6. 



'' No o^e any longer inquired as to the grounds or the object 
of this popular movement, prepared long in advance and 
skillfully staged by the Nationalist wire-pullers, a movement 
in which the Emperor and the Chancellor were at first 
victims carried away by the stream, a movement in which 
later they were voluntary participators, and of which in the 
end they became the conscious directing leaders." 

J' Accuse! by a German, p. 137. The writer of that cogent indictment of 
Germany, J' Accuse! is so hostile to the German Government in this war 

1 This iGformation was probably given to Cambon by Baron Boyeus. See Beyens, L'Alle- 
magne avant la Guerre, 1915, p. 2G. 



142 CONQUEST A]N^D KULTUR. 

that his unsupported assertions should not have undue weight. Yet this 
statement as to what was happening in Germany hits the nail so exactly 
on the head that it deserves quotation. The more one learns of the back- 
grounds of the war the more highly one estimates J' Accuse! as a contri- 
bution to the explanation of the immediate causes of the war. Few war 
books have such careful reasoning, fewer still so much insight. 



"THE DAY DAWNS. 

" The fateful day draws near. * * * And even if the 
twilight of the gods be upon ns, let it come in furioas battle 
rather than in lingering sickliness," 

Graf du Moulin-Eckart, speech at Stuttgart meeting of the Pan- 
German League, AUdeutsche Blatter, April 25, 1914. 



'' We maintain, to-day more than ever, that G-ermany and 
Austria-Hungary, even with the most honorable desire for 
peace, can not avoid v/ar with their eastern and western neigh- 
bors; that a frightful, decisive struggle will be forced upon 
,them. * * * Whoever willfully seeks to hide the fateful 
gravity of a future not far away because he fears the effect on 
the situation of the moment commits an unspeakable crime 
against the German nation and becomes guilty of high 
treason." 

AUdeutsche Blatter, March 14, 1914. These words in large letters 
were part of the leading editorial. 



*' That matters are approaching a decision here we know, 
and we do not allow ourselves to be deceived as to the neces- 
sity of this decision by negotiations with ns, which other 
nations are forced to make, concerning territory outside 
Europe." 

Speech by Admiral z. d. Breusing, April, 1914, at the Stuttgart 
meeting of leaders of the Pan-German League. AUdeutsche Blatter, 
April 25, 1914. 

"A struggle is close at hand for the German people, a 

struggle which vdll determine their fate for a long future, 
perhaps forever." 

Resolution of the Pan-German League at Stuttgart meeting, April, 
1914. liandbuch des aildeutschen Verbandes, 1916, p. 50. 



CONQUEST AND KULTUR. 143 

^^If we do not decide for war, that war in which vie shall 
have to engage at the latest in two or three years will be 
begun in far less propitious circumstances. At this moment 
the initiative rests with us, Russia is not ready, moral 
factors and right are on our side, as well as might. Since 
we shall have to accept the contest some day, let us provoke 
it at once. Our prestige, our position as a great power, 
our honor are in question, and yet more, for it would seem 
that our very existence is concerned." 

Militarische Rundschau, July, 1914. Quoted in the Annual Reg- 
ister, 1914, p. 305. 

*^Even though we condemn the activity of the Pan-Serbian 
Nationalists, nevertheless wanton provocation of war upon 
the part of the Austro-Hungarian Government calls for the 
sharpest protest. The demands of that Government are more 
brutal than any ever made upon any civilized State in the 
history of the world, and they can be regarded only as in- 
tended to provoke war." 

From a front page appeal against the war in Vorwarts, July 25, 
1914. 



^•Repeated conversations, which I had yesterday with the 
French Ambassador, the Dutch and Greek ministers, and 
the British charge d'affaires, raise in my mind the presump- 
iion tliat the ultimatum, to Serbia is a Mow prepared by 
Vienna and Berlin, or leather designed here and executed at 
Vienna. It is this fact whicJi creates the great danger. 
The vengeance to be taken for the murder of the hereditary 
Archduke and the pan-Serbian propaganda would only serve 
as a pretext. The object sought, in addition to the annihi- 
lation of Serbia and of the aspirations of the Jugo-Slavs, 
would be to strike a mortal blow at Russia and France in 
the hope that England would remain aloof from the struggle. 

'^To justify these conclusions I must remind you of the 
opinion which prevails in the German general staff that war 
with France and Russia is unavoidable and near — an opinion 
which the Emperor has been induced to share. Such a war, 
warmly desired by the military and Pan-German party, 
might be undertaken to-day, as this party think, in circum- 



144 CON^QUEST AND KULTUR. 

stances which are extremely favorable to Germany, and 
which probably will not again present themselves for some 
time. ^Germany has finished the strengthening of her army 
which was decreed by the law of 1912, and on the other hand 
she feels that she can not carry on indefinitely a race in 
armaments with Russia and France which v/ould end hj her 
ruin. The WeJirheitrag ^ has been a disappointment for the 
Imperial Government, to whom it has demonstrated the 
limits of the national wealth. Russia has made the mistake 
of making a display of her strength before having finished 
her military reorganization. That strength will not be for- 
midable for several years; at the present moment it lacks 
the railv/ay lines necessary for its deployment. As to 
France, M. Charles Humbert has revealed her deficiency in 
guns of large caliber; but apparently it is this arm that will 
decide the fate of battles. For the rest, England, which 
during the last two years German}^ has been trying, not with- 
out some success, to detach from France and Russia, is para- 
lyzed by internal dissensions and her Irish quarrels.' 

''In the eyes of my colleagues as well as in my own, the 
existence of a plan concerted between Berlin and Vienna 
proved by the obstinacy with which Wilhelmstrasse ^ denies 
having had knowledge of the tenor of the Austrian note 
prior to Thursday last. Tt was also only on Thursday 
last that it was known at Rome, from which circumstances 
arise the vexation and dissatisfaction displaj^ed here by the 
Italian Ambassador. How can it be admitted that this 
note, which, owing to the excessive severity of its terms and 
the shortness of the period allowed to the cabinet of Belgrade 
for their execution, is destined to render war immediate and 
unavoidable, was drafted without consultation with and 
v/ithout the active collaboration of the German Government, 
seeing that it wiU involve the most serious consequences for 
that Government? An a^dditional fact, which proves the 
intimate cooperation of the two Governments, is their simul- 
taneous refusal to prolong the period allowed to Serbia. 
After the request for an extension formulated by the Rus- 
sian charge d'affaires at Vienna had been refused yesterday 

1 This was the extraordinary levy for war purposes. 

2 The name given to the German Foreign Office from its location in the Wilhelmstrasse in 
Berlin. 



COXQUEST AXD KULTUR. 145 

at the Ballplatz, here, at the Wilhelmstrasse, Herr von Jagow 
evaded similar requests presented by the Russian and Eng- 
lish charge d'affaires, who, in the name of their respective 
Governments, claimed the support of the Berlin cabinet for 
the purpose of inducing Austria to grant Serbia a longer 
interval in which to reply. Berlin and Vienna were at one 
in their desire for immediate and inevitable Jiostilities. The 
paternity of the scheme, as well as of the procedure em- 
ployed, which are, on account of their very cleverness, 
worthy of a Bismarck, is attributed here, in the diplomatic 
world, to a German rather than an Austrian brain. The 
secret had teen VJell guarded, and the execution of the scheme 
followed with marvelous rapidity.^' 

Baron Beyens, the Belgian minister at Berlin, to M. Davignon, 
Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Berlin, July 26, 1914. The Bel- 
gian Grey Book No. 2. 

'•'On August 18, 1914, as American Ambassador at Con- 
stantinople, I called on the Marquis of Pallavicini, the Austro- 
Hungarian Ambassador, to congratulate him on the Em- 
peror' sleigh tj-fourth birthday. * * * The conversation 
then turned to the war, which was in its third week, and His 
Excellency told me that when he visited the Emperor in 
May His Imperial Majesty had said that war was inevitable 
because of conditions in the Balkans. * * * 

'^A still more remarkable confirmation came to me from 
Baron Wangenheim, the German Ambassador at Constanti- 
nople. In an outburst of enthusiasm after the arrival of 
the Goeben and the Breslau in the Dardanelles * * * 
the German Ambassador informed me that a conference had 
been held in Berlin in the early part of July [1814] at which 
the date of the war was fixed. This conference was presided 
over by the Kaiser; the Baron Wangenheim was present to 
report on conditions in Turkey. Moltko, the Chief of Sta:^, 
was there, and so was G-rand Admiral von Tirpitz. With 
them were the leaders of German finance, the directors of 
the rPvilroads, and the captains of industry, * * * Each 
was asked if he were ready for the war. All replied in the 
aS&rmative, except the financiers, who insisted that they must 
have two weeks in which to sell foreign securities and arrange 
their loans. * ^i« >[^ 

12726°— 17— —10 



146 CONQUEST AND KULTUR. 

''It was not to me alone that Baron Wangenheim told the 
story of this Berlin conference. Only recently the Marquis 
Garroni, the Italian Ambassador at Constantinople, an- 
nounced that Baron Wangenheim said the same thing to 
him, Italy at that time being a member of the Triple Alliance. 
My diary shows that the conversation with the German 
Ambassador took place on August 26. This was about six 
weeks after the fateful council in Berlin * * * and all 
the details of the meeting were still fresh in Baron Wangen- 
heim^ s mind." 

Henry Morgenthau, former American Ambassador to Turkey, in 
New York World, Oct. 14, 1917. 



SECTION XVII. 

THE PROGRAM OF ANNEXATIONS. 

Many of the following passages are from Grumbach's Das annexion- 
istische-Deutschland, a compilation, by a Swiss Social-Democrat, of German 
utterances in favor of annexation, covering 370 large closely packed pages. 
Grmnbach has made no effort to be complete, but has gathered representa- 
tive passages from various parties, groups, and individuals. In his intro- 
d action he says: "No one familiar with the situation can deny that in no 
other of the warring nations is there such an army of people eager for an- 
nexations as in Germany, No one will dare assert that there is any other 
country in which all the middle-class parties are so committed not merely 
to annexations but to a whole system of annexations, including not alone 
colonies, but, above all else — and this to my mind is much more important 
and decisive — European territories in the east and west. No one will 
deny that in Germ^any the whole middle-class press, the great and the 
small [he points out four exceptions], has come out unequivocally for 
annexations, and not in any covert way, but most openly. In the Reichstag 
as in public meetings there has been a cry for annexations. * * -^s- 'pj^e 
central committees and the bm-eaus of all the middle-class parties have 
urged the policy of annexations and have set forth the reasons in reso- 
lutions which have received the widest publicity. Newspapers in the 
south of Germany, in the east, the west, and in central Germany men 
from every province and town and class have demanded annexations; 
not only politicians, but men of science, writers, and physicians have 
made public declarations in favor of annexations. * •^- * The Govern- 
ment has done nothing to prevent the wide circulation of annexationist 
books and brochures, the like of which can not be found in any other 
country. To judge correctly the prevailing intellectual attitude, it is 
necessary to observe not only what is going on to-day when the military 
and political situation - * - puts a damper on a whole series of wild 
aspirations, but to recall what people hoped for when the military situ- 
ation was such that they thought they need set no limit to their wishes. 
I can enumerate dozens and many dozen of annexationist and super- 
annexationist books and brochures that have appeared in Germany since 
the beginning of the war, which bear the names of the most eminent men; 
and they have been sold not by the hundred but by the thousand and tens 
of thousands; '300,000 copies sold' is the exultant inscription on a war 
brochure of Houston Stewart Chamberlain, in which the idea of German 
supremacy is celebrated in hysterical fashion. 'In three weeks 20,000 
copies' is printed on the cover of a book of 200 pages bearing the title 
The Destruction of English World-Power and of Russian Czarism, in which 

147 ■ 



148 CO^^QUEST Al^D KULTUE. 

Herr von der Bleek has had the collaboration of a whole series of the best 
known political writers in Germany who find territories to annex in all 
corners of the world." ^ 

^^A United States of Europe with Germany as leading 
State and the German Emperor at the head — this is my 
vision. But such a union can not be brought about by a 
mihtary victory, by force; for force is not constructive. 
And such is their hatred of Germany — a hatred sure to be 
increased by our victory — that the other nations will not 
voluntarily enter such a union at once. We must, then, I 
think, confine ourselves to making preparations for this ideal. 
If we wi-n {as is our hope and trust) , we must utterly destroy 
tJie poiver of England, our most formidable foe; we must 
take from Tier Tier colonies and Tier fleet. We might take the 
French fleet, too, and also make France hear the cost of the 
war. The Belgian king could he removed, and Belgium 
could he joined to Germany as an integral part of the Empire.' ' 

Dr. Oppenheimer of Diisseldorf in Monistisches Jahrhundert, De- 
cember, 1914. [G. p. 256.] 



'^Mere force or calculation gives mastery; for leadership 
more is required — superior culture, superior morality, respect 
for distinctive national characteristics, an intelligence capa- 
ble of comprehending and assimilating foreign elements. 
These quahties insure to the people which possesses them all 
the world power of the future, and we Germans are that 
people." 

Dr. Albert Gottlieb: Der deutsche Staatsgedanke, p. 389; in the 
Grenzboten, No. 52, Dec, 1914. [G., p. 194.] 



*^We know it! The German eagle will spread his wings in 
victory and soar to prouder heights than ever. And we will 
hold for all time the lands which have been fertilized by 
German blood. Our fiery love for our fatherland makes us 
strong enough to bring it the greatest sacrifices. But may 
we also holdfast what we have seized and win hesides what- 
ever we reguire.^' 

Deputy Bassermann at the farewell celebration of the National 
Liberal representation in the Reichstag, December, 1914. [G. p. 71.] 



CONQUEST AI^D KULTUR. 149 

[Our whole history] ^^can be understood as one continuous 
thrust toward the ocean. The small inland state of Bran- 
denburg, with its two great rivers flowing into the Baltic 
and the North Sea, is the starting point of that natural 
impulse. Century after century it had pushed its way 
(though often driven backward), till in 1864 a series of 
decisive blows were struck. In 1864-1866 Prussia was 
firmly united, from its coast on the North Sea to its coast on 
the Baltic, under a single rule; in 1870-71 the whole Ger- 
man seaboard was fused into political unity with the whole 
German hinterland, so that at last full commercial use might 
be made of our geographical position. The Triple Alha^nce 
established further outlets [to the Mediterranean] through 
allied States. It remains to crown the work (1) by drawing 
closer the lines which bind us to Austria and (2) by extending 
the German seaboard to the channel, with its free outlet to 
the Atlantic. 

^^This is what England dreads. We dare not, then, let 
Belgium go, and must, if possible, insure that the coast from 
Ostend to the mouth of the Somme never again falls into the 
hand of a country which may become a political vassal of 
England. Tliis must be secured, in some form, to German 
influence. 

'^The debated question as to hov7 to dispose of the objec- 
tions against annexing territory occupied by a foreign and 
hostile population leads us to certain general considerations 
as to securing valuable land whichis necessary for us. I mean 
land useful chiefly for agriculture and colonization. One 
suggestion is that such land should be ^evacuated' by its 
present inhabitants. In this connection I should like to 
repeat certain proposals put forward by leaders of our 
colonial policy and our commercial life. The following 
items were suggested to the present writer by one of these 
personages, with especial reference to Belgium: 

^^ 1. Lands where the population has committed ouenses 
against our army (by guerilla or armed resistance) to be con- 
fiscated, in accordance with the existing law of confiscation. 
Displaced families to be compensated — if at all — out of the 
wsLT contribution^ and to reside beyond the borders of the 
German Empire. 



150 CONQUEST AND KULTUE. 

'' 2. Land thus at our disposal to be divided up among (a) 
members of German regiments suffering in those localities, 
(b) relatives of the killed and wounded, so far as such indi- 
viduals present themselves as settlers. Measures to be 
taken against waste and speculation in real estate. 

^^3. Factories, etc., the managers of which have taken part 
in opposing our army, to be confiscated and^handed over (in 
corporate ownership) to the proper workmen from our army, 
so far as these are ready to take up work there. 

"4,. Mnes, unless already in possession of German subjects, 
to become State property of the new German Duchy of 
Belgium. 

'^5. All Belgians not declaring allegiance to Germany within 
four weeks after the ofiicial incorporation of Belgium to leave 
the German Empire, along with their famihes. 

^'6. Any Belgians within the next 10 years committing 
offenses against the Empire and its laws to be expelled 
beyond the frontiers of the Empire. 

"7, Agreeably to these principles, along the old frontier of 
Germany and Belgium, a broad strip of land to be settled by 
men of pure German stock. * * * \Ye can never again 
tolerate in the West a border population of doubtful loyalty. 
We are fighting for our existence, and are justified (after we 
win) in taking against the western disturbers of peace meas- 
lu-es which wiH insure quiet in that quarter for centuries. 

^'8. In the new German districts are to be compensated also 
Germans who have been diiven out, in consequence of the 
war, and have lost homes and positions." 

Arthur Dix: Der Weltwirtschaftskrieg, 1914, pp. 32-35. This 
is No. 3 of the collection entitled Zwischen Kjieg und Frieden. 



^^ Every people in history with sound instincts and a state 
organization capable of fife and growth has pushed its way 
(if denied by nature) to the seacoast. Peoples unable to 
win to, or driven from, the sea have silently dropped out of 
that competition which constitutes world history. Pos- 
session of a seacoast means 'possibility of over-sea expansion, 
and ultimately the transformation of a continental policy 
into a world policy. 



CO^sTQUEST AIN-D KULTUB. 151 

^^ Since our peace-loving nature htis not protected us from 
this fearful visitation, it is from this point of view tJiat tJie war 
must he directed. We must not scruple to look squarely at 
the consequences of a victorious advance on the part of our 
army. Advantageous.positions on the coast of Belgium and 
the northern coast of France (which we are hoping to con- 
quer) must not be relinquished. Nothing less will insure our 
development as a world power and as a sea 230wer. It is from 
this point of view that we must decide the further question 
of Belgian annexation. Not on grounds of territorial expan- 
sion, no; Vv^emust ask ourselves solely : Does maintenance of 
the conquered strip of coast necessitate annexation, or not ? 
If strategic necessity requires it, we must annex Belgiwn vjJietiter 
we so desire or notJ^ 

Max Apt: Der Erieg und die ¥/eitinachtsteliung des deutschen 
Reiches,'1914, pp. 30-31. This forms No. 12 of the collection entitled 
Zwischen Krieg imd Frieden. Apt is syndic of the Berlin Board 
of Commerce. 



'^ The peace which is made must be not only a peace for the 
diplomats, but one which the whole German people under- 
stands and approves — a guaranty of our conditions of hfe, 
worthy of our sacrifices. Nothing could be more terrible 
tha.n that this tremendous war should come to an end which 
was a disappointment to our people. Many a time the pen 
has lost for us what the sword has won. Now tJiat we stand 
alone in the world, we alone have to say what that end shall he. 

Speech in Magdeburg, January, 1915, reported in the Magdeburger 
Blatter, January 17, 1915, by von Heydebrand, leader of the Con- 
servative party." [G., p. 46.] For utterances of his before the 
war, see pp. 123-24, pp. 128-29. 



^^If our aim is a peace that promises duration, then every- 
thing ia respect to extensioii of territory that the General 
Sta^ considers necessary for the avoidance of further wars, 
lies within the scope of the conditions of peace; and no re- 
gard for the territory or population of our enemies must be 
permitted to restrain us from exacting those conditions. 
Above all no consideration for the supposed rights of the inhabit- 



152 CONQUEST AND KULTUE. 

ants to determine their own lot. Those who have drawn 
the sword against us in this most wicked of wars have for- 
feited these rights." 

Article in Der Tag, Jan. 31, 1915. [G., p. 62.] 



^^When peace is concluded we must, without .unmanly 
scruples^ thinking only of our own interests, take care that 
our Germany, after the fearful sacrifices of this war, tower in 
such overwhelming might above all Europe that no imagin- 
able coalition may presume to attack her or, if it should 
presume, may bleed to death. This we can attain only 
through an advantageous shaping of our frontiers in order 
that in the future we may be better protected than hitherto 
against hostile attack." [And the writer proceeds to show 
that though strange peoples are thus to be incorporated 
within the Empire, they need not be a thorn in the flesh. 
They will not receive the vote until fully assimilated^ fully 
Germanized.] 

Article by General ¥7rochem, in Der Tag, Feb. 13, 1915. [G., 
p. 26.] ___ 

^'Concerning the conditions we may not speak, but this 
much must be given utterance : That in the heart of every 
German there lives the hope that the land conquered with 
so much German blood shall not be surrendered. We must 
on to tJie British Channel/' etc. 

Speech Apr. 18, 1915, by Vice President of the Reichstag Paasche. 
[G., p. 72.] After this speech some of the Social-Democratic organs 
expressed a doubt whether Paasche 's views were those of his party, 
the National Liberal. The official organ, the Nationalliberale 
Correspondenz, replied that they were. 



''And if anyone beheves that we will restore the territories 
occupied by us in the Westj on which the blood of our people 
has been shed, without full security for our future — [all that 
we can say to that is] that we will secure for ourselves tangi- 
ble guaranties ^ (reals Garantien) against making Belgium an 

1 For " tangible guaranties," see note p. 153. 



COli^QUEST AND KULTUR. 153 

Anglo-French vassal, or a military and economic bulwark 
against Germany/' 

^'Here, too^ there is no status quo ante; here, too, Germany 
cannot again expose the long-oppressed Flemish people to 
foreign influence. 

Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg in the Reichstag, April 5, 1916. 
[G., p. 8.] 



^'The greater the danger which we, girt about as we are 
with enemies, have to face, the more love for home grips our 
hearts, the more Vv^e must take upon om-selves the care of 
childi'en and grandchildren — so much the more must we hold 
out until we shaU have seized and secured all possible tangi- 
ble guaranties and pledges that none of our enemies, whether 
singly or united, shall ever again try conclusions with us. 
The wilder the storm rages around us, gentlemen, the more 
firmly must we build om* house." 

From a speech in the Reichstag, May 28, 1915, by the Chancellor, 
Bethmann-Hollweg [G., p. 7]. In June Vorwarts, the Social- 
Democrat organ, observed: "We have already remarked that the 
expression 'tangible guaranties' [reale Garantien, equivalent to the 
Siciierlieiten used by the Kaiser below] is the customary phrase 
wherebj^ the Annexationists express their asphations without offend- 
ing against the official injunction against the discussion of German 
aims in the war. [See below, p. 156, and Grumbach, p. 23.] This 
. party, then, has taken possession of the Chancellor." The Leipziger 
Volkszeitung of May 29 understands the phrase in the same way and 
comes to the same conclusion. It remarks on the significant enthusi- 
asm with which the pronouncement was received. For the Chan- 
cellor's statement to our American Ambassador, see pp. 165-66. 



''Hard upon the declaration of war by Russia followed that 
by France, and when thereafter the Enghsh also fell upon 
us, I then declared: 'I rejoice at it, and I rejoice because 
v'e can now come to a reckoning with our enemies, and be- 
cause at last — and that concerns the Canal Association 
particularly — we can procure a direct route from the Rhine 
to the sea.' 

'' Ten months have passed. Much precious blood has been 
shed * * * rpj^Q strengthening of the German Empire 



154 CONQUEST AND KULTUE. 

and the extension of her borders as far as is needful to 
assure us against future attacks — that is to be the profit 
of this war." 

From a speech delivered by the King of Bavaria at the banquet 
of the Bavarian Canal Association in Ftirth, June 7, 1915 [G., p. 5]. 
On June 8 Dr. Stresemann, member of the Reichstag, said that "a 
sigh of relief must have escaped from the German people on learn- 
ing that the route to the sea was not to be surrendered " (Grumbach, 
p. 73). Compare another speech {ih., p. 6) by the King of 
Bavaria at the time of the capture of Warsaw, in which he demands 
the '"'extension of the German frontiers to such a point as shall make 
it difficult for. her enemies to attack Germany again." 



" In heroic deeds and sufferings we endure without flinch- 
ing until peace comes, a peace which offers the necessary miU- 
tary, political, and economic guaranties for the future and 
fulfills the conditions for the unrestricted development of 
our energies at home and on the open sea." 

From the proclamation to the German people, issued by the Kaiser 
July 31, 1915, at Grand Headquarters [G., p. 5]. The annexationist 
press received the words "military, political, and economic guaran- 
ties" with enthusiasm. The words seem vague to us, but so it is 
that the Emperor and his ministers express themselves on such mat- 
ters. They convey a definite meaning to one who reads carefully 
the preceding and following paragraphs. See, the Chancellor's 
speech above. 



" The German people will proceed to the order of the day 
without attending to those who, ostensibly in order to shorten 
the war a few months, frivolously hazard its highest interests. 
It will sweep all those aside who are pitiful and anxious 
enough to desire no more for the enormous stake they have 
set than that everything should be again as it was. From 
the saying that ^we wage no war of conquest' to infer, 
after the bloody lessons of this year, that everything is to be 
again as it was, is a sign of mental impoverishment." 

Kreuzzeitung of Aug. 1, 1915. [G., p. 30,] "Highest interests" 
(grosste or hochste Interessen) is, like "tangible guaranties" (see 
above, p. 153), a pretty word with an ugly meaning, constantly in 
use among the militarists and annexationists. 



CONQUEST AND KULTUE. 155 

"The Central Committee of the National Liberal Party re- 
peats emphatically its conviction, already expressed and now 
confirmed, that only an extension of frontiers and coast line 
can provide the German people with the necessary tangible 
guaranties for its future miUtary; political, and economic 
security." 

Resolution passed May 21, 1916. [G., p. 37.] For the phrase 
"tangible guaranties" see above note, p. 153. 



'^Germany can not do better for her future than to secure 
naval bases which shall do away with the difficulties which 
we now deplore. We need bases at both entrances of the 
Channel; we need strong bases across the sea," etc. 

From a speech by Heir Ballin, General Director of the Hamburg- 
American Line, Hamburg, Oct. 21, 1915. [G., p. 18.] 



" [Our sacrifices] demand as the result of peace that Ger- 
many shall be strengthened by the retention of the conquered 
territory and indemnified for loss of treasure." 

Resolution of the Free Conservative Party, Dec. 5 and 6, 1915. 
[G., p. 39.] 



''Let our enemies pledge themselves anew to persist in the 
war; we wait in complete unanimity, in quiet determina- 
tion, and, let me add, trusting in God, for the hour which 
shall make possible negotiations for peace. These must 
assure permanently the military, economic, financial, and 
political interests of Germany in their widest range, and 
with every m^eans possible, including the necessary exten- 
sions of territory." 

Speech in the Reichstag, Dec. 9, 1915, by Dr. Spahn, leader of 
the Centre, in the name of all the middle-class parties (hurgerliche 
Parteien), representing 254 of the 397 members of the Reichstag. 
[G. , p. 33.] Recently, under Erzberger, the Centre itself has declared 
against annexations, but not unanimously. 



"To-day the military map shows that we are no longer the 
plaything of foreign powers. A broad road, which binds 
East and West together, opens up through the lands of 



156 CONQUEST AND KULTUR. 

faithful allies, and is a token of great days to come. The 
spirit of the Hanseatic League, which bears our banners over 
the seas, must never leave us; but the world war teaches 
us that as in the past our future lies not on the water but 
on land. Our trade and technical arts can prosper only on 
a broader basis of earth and within secure frontiers. We 
must not yet speak of our aims in the war [see above, note 
p. 153], but they hover before our eyes in ever clearer out- 
lines. In the East and the West the German flag must wave 
over the graves of our heroes.^' 

Article by Geheimer Regierungsrat Professor Hillebrandt, mem- 
ber of the Prussian Diet, in the Kreuzzeitnng, Dec. 31, 1915. 
[G., pp. 18, 19.] The reader will observe that the writers agree on a 
large program of annexation. They differ only as to the areas, con- 
tinental or colonial, which should be made the prize of this war. 



''We must establish ourselves firmly at Antwerp on the 
North Sea and at Eiga on the Baltic. * * * ^^ ^H 
events, we must, at the conclusion of peace, demand sub- 
stantial extensions of the German Empire." 

Ernst Haeckel, Ewigkeit, Weltkriegsgedanken, 1915, p. 122 
[Archer, p. 57]. 



"China is the greatest of the three worlds which are being 
rebuilt, inside and out, in our generation. China contains 
400,000,000 men — a fourth part of the human race. * * * 

*'We ask, whicli of the great European nations is to furnish 
the architect for this rebuilding of China? Tlie Japanese? 
Asiatics? Surely, no. * * * TheEnghsh? We expect — 
after this war — that it will not be the English. We Ger- 
mans? That will depend on how we stand after the war. 
If victorious, we shall presumably stand high in the Far 
East, and even if we succeed only as Frederick the Great 
succeeded in the Seven Years' War, that, too, would increase 
our prestige. The whole world believes we must be beaten; 
so powerful are our foes that no one really trusts in the 
success of Germany. If, then, in spite of odds, we win out, 
the question for the Chinese will be, ^Shall we take our 
teachers from the victors, or from the vanquished?' The 
task of rebuilding China is no light one. We must not 



COIITQUEST AND KULTUB. 157 

dream that we are, one and all, at present in a position to 
bring European culture and education to the Chinese. We 
must put ourselves to school — but we shall rise to the 
occasioii." 

From Paul Rohrbach, Unsere koloniale Zulvunftsarbeit, 1915, pp. 
68-69. [G., pp. 303-304.] See note, p. 71. 



'^/ am glad to cast my vote with those who counsel terri- 
torial expansion outside Europe. We should relieve certain 
States with African colonies of the burden of governing 
those colonies. Portugal, too, if really bound by treaty to 
assist England by land and sea, we could relieve of Angola 
at very slight expense. We had been purposing to purchase 
this colony, but it is better to get it for nothing, and to add 
to it the Azores, the Cape Yerde Islands, and Madeira. 
Within Europe, on the other hand, we must be exceedingly 
careful, and must acquire new territory only after the most 
mature deliberation, especially where it v/iil take years of 
unremitting labor to convert our antagonists to the view 
that hfe under the German scepter — 'War state' though 
we proclaim ourselves — is well worth living. True, our 
foreign policy must not be too tender-hearted — hard times 
need stout fists. ^ ^ ^ Jn fp.^ coming diplomatic con- 
vention, if the glih foreign huclcsters present coolced-up ohjec- 
tions to our talcing our rights, our fist, like Bismarc¥s, must 
pound the green table till the ink bottles dance, if they refuse 
to give us our due — what we think necessary for pernfianent 
peace. This is self-evident, and must remain so." 

Alfred Ruhemann: Die Zukunft Belgiens, 1915, pp. 145-146. Tliis 
is a chapter in Die Vernichtung der englisclien Weltmaclit, a book 
edited by Kurt L. Walter van der Bleek. [G., p. 305.] See below, 
pp. 147-48. 

"As tlie Grermaii eagle soars high above the beasts of the 
earth, so must the Grerman feel exalted above all surround- 
ing peoples, and must look down upon them in their bottom- 
less depths. 

''But noblesse oblige. The thought that we are the chosen 
people lays heavy obligations upon us. It is our first duty 
to keep ourselves a strong people. We are not marching to 



158 COIS^ QUEST AK^D KULTUR. 

world conquest. Don't be afraid, dear neighbors; we won't 
swallow you up. What good would such indigestible morsels 
be ? And as for conquering half-civilized or savage peoples 
in order to fill them with the German spirit — we have no 
desire in that direction — and, in fact, such 'Germanizing' 
is not possible. * * * 

''We must be a strong people, a strong German state. 
This means that our growth must be organic; and if it 
proves necessary to widen our borders so as to find room 
for development for our increasing population, we shall 
take so much as seems necessary. We shall set our foot 
just so far as strategic reasons render advisable for the 
maintenance of our invincible strength; but not one inch 
farther." 

From. Werner Sombart: Handler und Helden, 1915, pp. 143-144. 
[G., pp. 348-349.] See note, p. 36. 



"We seek to fulfill deliberately the century-old destiny of 
our race, to extend ourselves without limit. No German 
wishes to enslave the other nations — our aim is rather to 
make the whole world free, free for the exercise of oui' Ger- 
man powers and our German activities." 

Abridged from Dr. Friedrich Stieve: Deutschland vor den Toren 
der Welt, 1915, pp. 15-19. [G., p. 273.] 



'' Compared to these questions [annexations], that of a 
war indemnity appears at first sight to be very much 
simpler. It is in fact extraordinarily difficult. 

An indemnity which would be adequate simply to reim- 
burse us our war costs would perhaps amount to approxi- 
mately thirty billions^ — twelve bilhons for the war itself; 
five to ten bilhons as an adequate pension fiuid for invahd sur- 
vivors and dependents ; the rest for the restoration of mih- 
tary equipment for East Prussia, Tsingtau. * * * So 
far the reckoning is relatively simple, for what is approxi- 
mate in our estimates can be figured exactly by the financial 
administration. 

1 This estimate was made in January, 1915. The figures are in marks. 



CONQUEST AND KULTUE. 159 

* * * a ^2 these dangers must be avoided, and they 
can be avoided if the greater part of the indemnity is re- 
quired to be paid not in cash or exchange but in securities. 

The reckoning of tlie thirty billions coming to us would 
go something like this : 

"Perhaps two billions in gold, to be deposited in the Eeiclis- 
ba^k, to bring its gold reserves to a sufficient amount to 
meet all emergencies. Should we desire to return from the 
use of paper money to the expensive circulation of gold, the 
amount would be about four billions; but it would b© more 
irritating to our opponents to raise, and its economic conse- 
quences might also react inconveniently upon us. 

**A further four or six or eight billions in exchange, pay- 
able in, say, three years. An international balance of this 
amouxit in our favor would bo very desirable. We shall 
have great need to import raw material while our industries 
are active, partty for the home market and partly for the 
export, whose relations must be gradually reestabhshed. 
Accordingly, a certain improvement in our balance of trade 
during the transition period after the peace is, after all, 
desirable. 

''The rest, twenty billions, in securities. 

" This^ sounds surprising, for what use have we for English, 
French, or Russian bonds ? We have little use for them, to 
be sure. On the contrary, a permanent indebtedness of our 
opponents to Germajiy could only have very uncomfortable 
political consequences. 

*'What v/e need, however, is stocks and bonds of railways 
and docks, mines and factories, dams, etc., in Turkey and 
in China, in the Congo, and, under certain conditions, in 
South America, etc. In addition, Governmexit bonds of our 
allies. We need, above all, a strengthening of our economic 
position in the world, and we need to free our political friends 
from the excessive financial influence of England and France. 

''Just as the war indemnity of 1870 was useful in com- 
pleting our simple industrial organization at that time 
through the adoption of the gold standard and the stimula- 
tion of our industrial development, though with certain 
unpleasant accompanying phenomena during the promotion 
period, so also it is at present just as necessary to strengthen 



160 CONQUEST AND KULTTJE. 

our economic position in tlie world by war indemnities. The 
program of a close ecoAomic alliance of the central powers 
will be made materially easier thereby. 

"Industrial productive powers, the acquisition of colonies 
and of securities are therefore the industrial purposes of the 
war, demanded by our business interests to equalize all the 
effects of a war which was forced upon us. 

''Then there is the separate question of Belgium. It is 
impossible to leave Belgium in the devastated conditio^, 
which we were forced to bring upon it. It is equally impos- 
sible to have a malevolent Belgium as a neighbor on the 
borders of our Rhejiish Westphalian industrial region. Our 
victory wiH not be complete until hatred has been van- 
quished by love and every measure taken to revive industrial 
Belgium, but as a part of the Empire. It is required by 
considerations of humanity and a world peace, which demand 
a complete healing without a scar of these deep national 
wounds. * * 'H 

^' The twentiieth century is ours. * * * 

'' We need victory for the continuance of our economic life. 
Not only does our ijidustry maintain the war, but a com- 
plete victory is necessary for our industry. If we achieve a 
complete triumph, we shaU have won a prize worth fighting 
for. * * * 

'' The defeat of Germany is impossible. An indecisive war 
would be fatal to all alike. The complete triumph of 
Germany alone would be a blessing to all neutral countries. 
It would also be less dangerous to our enemies than an 
endless continuation of the struggle. It insures the new 
ascejit of civilization and a higher form of national life." 

Dr. Johann Plenge, Der Krieg und die Volkswirtschaft, 1915, pp. 
181ff. Plenge is professor of political economy at Miinster. The 
''industrial pm'poses" of the war ''which has been forced upon 
us" — note the purposes coupled with a claim of defensive wai — are 
now being accomplished in the utter devastation of Belgium and 
northern France. The passage about "healing Belgium" is based 
on the assumption that Germany will incorporate it as part of her 
territory . 



''With the full weight of Pan-Islamic power Turkey ad- 
vances agalDst Russia and against England. Against Russia, 
with her navy in the Black Sea and an army against the 



CONQUEST AXD KULTUR. 161 

Caucasus. * * * But what a Turkish blow against south 
Russia will mean only the man can judge who remembers that 
fne Russian south is the granary, the coalpit, and the mine of the 
Russian Emjyire. That is to strike Russia in her vitals. 
Russia must be thrust back from the Black Sea. We are not 
again to have to stem the tide of onslaughts before another 
decade. Only a Russia which has been thrust back from the 
Black Sea and directed toward the Indian Ocean (against 
England) or toward East Asia (against Japan) will no longer 
be a European danger." 

Ernst Jackh, Die deutsch-turkisclie Waff enbriiderschaft, 1915, pp. 
26-27. Nowhere, unless in the preceding utterance of Plenge, is the 
connection between economic interests and war more clearly revealed. 
'* Economic interests" as expounded by the Germans is camouflage 
for the ugly business of plundering neighboring lands to their own 
enrichment. Jackh is at present associated with Rohrbach in the 
publication of a new weekly, Deutsche Politik, devoted to " Welt- 
und Kulturpolitik." In the issue of Aug. 10, 1917, he advocates 
a "Middle Europe" hloc and a possible combination with Russia 
and Japan against the Anglo-Saxon world. 



^^Let us not speak of peace, for such speeches are taken for 
weakness and only prolong the war. Let us cease also in 
sicMy, un-German fashion to oppose annexations. Let us 
rather say manfully what we want, whafc we must and will 
demand as the prize of victory. Let us act without con- 
sideration for other countries. Then our enemies v/ill see 
that we are strong, not weaker but stronger than before. 
Then they will see at last that their game is up." 

Speech by Prinz zu Salm-Horstmar, member of the Prussian 
House of Lords, Jan. 1, 1916. [G., p. 49.] 



'' The German Empire m,ust mal:e its way with bCood and 
iron to the fulfillment of its political destiny ^ 

Speech by the Prussian Minister of the Interior, Von Loebell, 
Jan. 17, 1916, in the Diet. [G., p. 11.] 



^^ When weighed in the balance with our unpopularity after 
this war a simple restoration of the status quo ante bellum 
would mean for Germany not profit but loss. Only in case 

12726°— IT^n 



162 CONQUEST AN-D KULTUE. 

the strengthening of our "political^ economic, and military posi- 
tion hy the war decidedly counterbalances the enmity aroused shall 
we he able to say with a good conscience that hy the war we have 
on the whole tetter ed ourselves." 

From the book entitled Deutsche Politik (1916), p. xii, by the 
Ex-Chanceilor, Prince von Biilow. The preface, from which the 
passage is taken, bears date of May 15. The book was received 
enthusiastically by the annexationist press, but coolly by the 
Social-Democrats. [G., p. 15.] 



^^The power of Middle Europe is increased, that of the 
Russians thrust back toward the Orient, whence, not so long 
ago, it came." 

Article in the Deutsche Lodzer Zeitung, Feb. 9, 1916, by General 
Ludendorff. [G., p. 24.] He is now quartermaster general and 
probably the brains of the General Staff. 



' ' With a compromise peace, in which there is neither victor 
nor vanquished, Germany can not go on hving. Therefore 
we must remain stern and always sterner; therefore our 
statesmoen must in the peace negotiations he men of iron and 
not, to use Bismarck's phrase, resemble soft wood that has 
been painted iron-gray. The German people mean not only 
to hold out but to conquer. To see things as they really are, 
that is Bismarck's way. What we must do we will do, and 
what we will to do, we can do." 

Count von Reventlow in an address Apr. 1, 1916, reported in the 
Deutsche Tageszeitung Apr. 4, 1916. [G., p. 175.] 



"First of all, our enemxy is in the west. * * * Ninety 
per cent of Germans burn with the feeling that we must reckon, 
once for all, with England and France. Secondly, terms of 
peace will be decided by the military situation on the day 
when peace is declared. Thirdly, our enemy must be either 
annihilated or conciliated, and * * * a policy of concilia^ 
tion in the west is impossible. We have to fight our way 
through to the ocean, and whatever stands in our way must 
be destroyed. Fom-thly, we wMintain the oM Balkan prin- 
ciple, 'the conqueror keeps what he has J * * * There is 



CONQUEST AND KULTUR. 163 

nothing more to he said about Belgium. We need an opening 
to the channel and we must have Antwerp. He who wants 
Belgium may come and take it from us. Fifthly, we m^ust 
strengthen the German Empire; and that means strengthen- 
ing the Em^pire's central power, which means Prussia." 

Rheinisch-Westfalisclie Zeitung, Oct. 27, 1916. This paper is 
the organ of the Krupp interests. Quoted in Quarterly Review, 
Jan., 1917. 



'^Here, then, lies the key to Germany's future, for nothing 
but a Belgium, under Germany's political and military influ- 
ence, could provide the possibility of effectively threatening 
the British Island Empire itself, by enabling our fleet to 
create for England that risk which was to be the final purpose 
of its construction. * * * Thus the military and political 
domination of Germany over Belgium is seen to he a com.jyelling 
necessity, arising from the geographical situation, the military 
relations of strength, and the political grouping of the 
Powers, just as clearly as from Great Britain's destructive 
will against Germany. * * * 

'^ From an economic point of view, Belgium, even before the 
war, was an almost indispensable link in tiie world-encircling 
chain of German sea trade. Antwerp had become for the 
Bhenish, Thuringian, and South German industry an export 
harbor, the place of v/hich could be taken by our North Sea 
ports only at the cost of considerable sacrifice in time and 
freights." 

A secret memorandum of the council of the German Navy League, 
adopted June 17, 1916, at its annual meeting and transmitted to the 
Chancellor. Published by the Kreuzzeitung just before Christmas, 
1916. Quoted in the London Times, Jan. 1, 1917. 



^^Such phrases as the Chancellor used in his declaration 
on December 12 stand in the strongest contradiction to the 
nature of the policy of might ( Machtpolitilc) . Anyone who 
takes his stand upon this policy can not agree that our 
'well-founded claims do not in any way contradict the 
rights of other nations.' For we have won for ourselves 
a justified claim to a strong frontier on the Flemish coast; 
we can show that this claim has been justified clearly by 



164 COIT QUEST AND KULTUE. 

the experiences of the war. And yet we can not very well 
dispute the fact that it is contrary to the formal rights of 
the Belgian State. Is our claim to the Belgian Hne of the 
Meuse, to the iron region of Briey, to Coiu*land, not thor- 
ougly justified — justified by the shifting of power during the 
war and by the experience gained? And yet this claim, 
too, stands in blunt contradiction to the rights of other 
nations. 

"The more firmly one relies upon the policy of power, the 
greater is the certainty of the conviction that it will always be 
power which will decide between the nations of the earth." 

Das grossere Deutschland, quoted in the Manchester Guardian, 
Jan. 4, 1917. Das grossere Deutschland is a recently established 
organ of the annexationists. 



You have the upper hand. It is not your enemies but you 
who are making victorious progress at the front; it is your 
enemies who are menaced by famine and not you. Your 
home arm^y is rismg to put at your disposal men, arms, 
munitions, foodstuffs, all in large quantities. Demand, then, 
Germany, instead of giving way; and if your enemies wiU 
not accept your demands then continue the struggle, re- 
mem^bering that you have to execute a judgment of God on 
these pirates, liars, 8.nd robbers. We Germans fear God, 
and nothing else in the world; and it wiU always be so. 
Demand, Germany ! and you will conquer." 

Der Tag, quoted in the Manchester Guardian, Jan. 4, 1917, 



"Messrs. Scheidemann and Erzberger are not the German 
nation, nor does this Reichstag, which originated from the 
worst kind of party political incitement, reflect its real feel- 
ings. The German nation is ready for any sacrifice, but it 
demands the security that these sacrifices have not been 
and will not be made in vain. Not courts of arbitration and 
paper treaties^ hut only an increase of povjer vjhich will malce us 
unconquerable in every direction can he the reward for these 
endless sacrifices. 

" If the German nation is going to strain its strength to the 
topmost limit, then it must have assurances that it will not 



COITQUEST AITD KULTUR. 165 

be deceived in the reward for its sacrifices; therefore it 
demands clearness and truth. In feverish expectation it 
awaits, hitherto in vain, the reheving word; may it be 
spoken before it is too late."^ 

Deutsche Tageszeitung, quoted in the Manchester Guardian, 
Jan. 5, 1917. 



''Finally in January, 1917, when he [Bethmann-Hollweg] 
was again talking of peace, I said, 'What are these peace 
terms to which you refer continually ? Will you allow me 
to ask a few questions as to the specific terms of peace? 
First, are the Germans willing to withdraw from Belgium ? ' 
The chancellor answered, ' Yes, but with guarantees.' I said, 
'What are these guarantees?' He said, 'We must possibly 
have the forts of Liege and Namur; we must have other forts 
and garrisons tliroughout Belgium. We must have possession 
of the railroad lines. We must have possession of the ports 
and other means of communication. The Belgians will not 
be allowed to maintain an army, but we must be allowed to 
maintain a large army in Belgium. We must have the com- 
mercial control of Belgium.' I said, 'I do not see that you 
have left much for the Belgians except that King Albert 
will have the right to reside in Brussels with an honor guard.' 
And the chancellor said, 'We can not allow Belgium to be 
an outpost of England'; and I said, 'I do not suppose the 
Enghsh, on the other hand, wish it to becomxe an outpost of 
Germany, especially as von Tirpitz has said that the coast of 
Flanders should be retained in order to make war on England 
and America.' I continued, 'How about northern France?' 
He said, ' We are willing to leave northern France, but there 
must be a rectification of the frontier.' I said, 'How about 
the eastern frontier?' He said, 'We must have a very sub- 
stPvUtial rectification of our frontier.' I said, 'How about 
Roumania ? ' He said, ' We shall leave Bulgaria to deal with 
Roumania.' I said, 'How about Serbia?' He said, 'A very 
small Serbia may be allowed to exist, but that is a question 
for Austria. Austria must be left to do what she wishes to 
Italy, and we must have indemnities from all the countries 
and all our ships and colonies back.' 

1 Scheidemann and Erzberger are leaders of the Sociai-Democratic and Center Parties, 
respectively, who are advocating a peace based on "no annexations and no indemnities." 



166 CONQUEST AXD KULTUE. 

^^Of course ^rectification of tlie frontier' is a polite term 
for ^annexation/ '' 

James W. Gerard: My Four Years in Germany, 1917, pp. 365-366. 



" When Scheidemann sent the message out into the world 
that what was French should again be French and what v^^as 
Belgian again Belgian, the Paris Journal could conclude, 
from its point of view that German pohcy would sacrifice 
its national interests to those of the world. But we, of the 
great majority at home, and the compact front out there, 
protest that German soldiers should not give their blood 
in order that it should become a fertilizer for culture to those 
who hate us from the bottom of their hearts. * * * ^e 
need but one thing, namely, that, boldly and openly, hand in 
hand with our Allies, we set to our work. Out of the diverse 
chords of the wiUs of nations there is formed what God hears 
as the harmony of humanity. The more the voices of our 
people join in the chorus of national interests, the more 
pleasing will the song be to God. Through might to kultur 
and through kultur to might. The beginning and the end 
is might." 

Dr. Karl Mehrmann in Das grossere Deutschland, Jan. 27, 1917. 
Quoted in nineteenth Century and After, April, 1917. Mehrmann 
is an editor and author. 



''Anybody who knows the present state of things in Bel- 
gian industry will agree with me that it must take at least 
some years — assuming that Belgium is independent bA all — 
before Belgium can even think of competing with us in the 
world market. And anybody who has traveled, as I have 
done, through the occupied districts of France will agree 
with me that so much damage has been done to industrisi 
property that no one need be a prophet in order to say that 
it will take more than ten years before we need think of 
France as a competitor or of the reestablishment of French 
industry," 

Deputy Beumer in the Prussian Diet, week of Feb. 20-27 . London 
Times, Feb. 27, 1917. Than the above passage there is nothing more 
comical and cruel in this compilation. For the utter desolation 
which the Germans have wrought in the occupied territory there is 
here revealed a deeper motive. See below also. 



COITQUEST Ai^D KULTUE. 167 

"As a result of the experiences of this war the enemy 
countries will so protect themselves that their economically 
valuable possessions close to the frontier can not again be 
overrun so easily as was the case this time. We can not 
give up Longwy and Briey, because in a new war it v/ill be 
impossible for us again to be in Longwy in 24 hours and in 
Liege in four days." 

Deputy Fuhnnann in the Prussian Diet, week of Feb. 20-27^ 1917. 
London Times, Feb. 27. 



" We must also secure ourselves for the future. New sac- 
rifices require new compensations, new demands. A suffi- 
cient wa,r indemnity is necessary to guard against the dan- 
gers of the future, and also for the resumption of economic 
competition. If our enemies are really not able to pay an 
indemnity J for what purpose, then, have we territory of eco- 
nomic value in our hands conquered with our hlood'l Cour- 
land and Livonia offer ground for colonization. With them 
Vv^e can also protect the interests of the Baltic population. 
At Briey and Longwy ^ we find coal and iron ore. The 
harbor of Antwerp we cannot do without; if we possess 
this, the individuahty of the Flemish population can also be 
protected. 

'^ The military safety of our frontiers must be attained even 
if military and economic objections thereto exist. As in 
the east our flank must be protected, so also must the right 
flank of our west front. Consequently the high defensive 
and offensive value of the Flemish coast is very obvious 
in strengthening our positions against England. Germany 
must be invincible." 

Count von Westarp, leader of the Conservative Party, in the 
Reichstag, Feb. 27, 1917, quoted in the London Times, Mar. 1, 1917. 



^^The extent of our claims can not be discussed here, but, 
in any case, we might weU consider the idea that our ene- 
mies should pay us annually for a series of years from 
£2o0 fiOO p00\o £800,000,000, and that they should pay it 
in the first years, while they also wiU be short of money, in 

1 Centers of the coal region of northern France. 



168 CON-QUEST AN-D KULTXJR. 

raw materials, which, would render us good service in the 
restoration of our economic system. In the later years they 
would pay in gold for the redemption of our debt." 

Kolnische Zeitung, quoted in the London Times, Mar. 3, 1917. 



'*It is absolutely necessary that Germany claim the occu- 
pation of the Belgian coast as a German naval base. It is 
equally necessary that it claim the occupation of Baltic 
Provinces inhabited by Germans, and it is equally necessary 
to obtain a rectification of the French frontiers, in claiming 
for Germany the occupation of the mining districts." 

Speech of Deputy Roesicke (Conservative) in the Keichstag, May 
15, 1917, quoted by the Journal des Debats, May 17, 1917. 



"There lies in my house a memorandum composed by me 
for myself alone, which deals m^ore precisely and exhaustively 
with the future of Belgium and arrives at the definite result 
that, if we do not get Belgium into our sphere of power, and 
if we do not govern it in German fashion and use it in German 
fashion, the war is lost." 

Von Bissing, governor general of Belgium, in a letter to Deputy 
Stresemann, Hamburger Nachrichten, quoted in the London Times, 
June 3, 1917. This and the following extract, published after Von 
Bissing's death, are part of what has been called his "political testa- 
ment.' ' See also articles by Vernon Kellogg in the Atlantic Monthly, 
August and October, 1917. 

" There is no prospect that we shall ever be able to conclude 
with the King of the Belgians and his Government a peace 
by which Belgium will remain in the German sphere of power, 
and it is impossible that the Quadruple Entente, over the 
heads of its allies, shall ever accept our peace demands with 
regard to Belgium. It only remains for us, therefore, to 
avoid during the peace negotiations all discussion about the 
form of the annexation, and to apply nothing but the right 
of conquest. 

^^ It is true that dynastic considerations have an importance 
which is not to be underestimated. For, in view of our just 
and ruthless procedure, the Bang of the Belgians will be 
deposed, and will remain abroad as an aggrieved enemy. 



CONQUEST AND KULTUE. 169 

We must put up with that, and it is to be regarded almost as a 
happy circumstance that necessity compels us to leave dynas- 
tic considerations entirely out of account. A king will never 
voluntarily hand over his country to the conqueror, and Bel- 
gium's King can never consent to abandon his sovereignty or 
to allow it to be restricted. If he did so his prestige would be 
so undermined that he would have to be regarded not as a 
support, but as an obstacle, to German interests. On the 
most various occasions the Enghsh have described the right 
of conquest as the healthiest and simplest kind of right, and 
we can read in Macliiavelli that he who desires to take 
possession of a country will be compelled tg remove the king 
or regent, even by killing him. 

^' These are grave decisions, but they must be taken, for we 
are concerned with the welfare and the future of Germany, 
and concerned also with reparation for the war of destruction 
that has been directed against us." 
Idem, London Times, June 6, 1917. 



The Vorwarts protests to General von Ludendorff and 
the Prussian war minister against the purchase and circulation 
among troops, in hospitals, and schools by German Grand 
Headquarters of a Pan-German brochure advocating the in- 
corporation of France as a federated state of Germany and 
the reduction of Poland, Finland, Courland, and the bulk of 
European Russia to the status of protectorates or annexed ter- 
ritories of Germany. * * * ''This act of the army authori- 
ties is particularly glaring on account of the fact that the 
brochure is directed almost as much against Chancellor von 
Bethmann-Hollweg as against the Socialists." * * * 

Summary of dispatch from Copenhagen, quoting Vorwarts, New 
York Times, June 10, 1917. This whole matter of Pan-German 
propaganda in the army was recently made the subject of an inter- 
pellation in the Reichstag. Chancellor Michaelis explained that the 
Government was seeking to sustain the morale of the army and to 
counteract enemy propaganda. 



"The hatred bestowed upon us by the whole world may be 
classified as the hatred of an inferior race for a superior 
one. To the devil with all talk of kultur ! As if any soldier 



170 CO N^ QUEST AND KULTUR. 

would have gone to the front for the sake of striving for 
kultur. What our armies^ our sons, and brothers are fight- 
ing for is a greater Germany, with boundaries that will 
insure us against an attack by highway robbers such as we 
have lately been exposed to." 

Alldeutsche Blatter. Quoted by Dagene Nyheter (Swedish daily 
paper), July 21, 1917. 



'^ The task of the statesman in charge will he to remain at 
the time of the negotiations [for peace] in close touch with the 
high command of the army and to reckon on the military 
advantages gained hy the blood of our brave soldiers, in order to 
make the best use of the possibility of new military blows. If 
he does this successfully, he can count on the approval 
of the army and of the people. The resolution [for no 
annexations and no indemnities] does not fit in with these 
conceptions and we unanimously reject it." 

Count von Westarp in the name of the Conservative Party (July 
20, 1917), concerning the resolutions in the Reichstag, quoted in 
Journal de Geneve, July 21, 1917. 



"A foreign policy m accordance with the Reichstag resolu- 
tion/ as meant by the majority, can not result in victory, 
but only in the ruin of the German people and Empire. 
The German nation does not desire such a policy." 
Hamburger Nachrichten, Aug. 9, 1917. 



"Conservatives would further decline anything in the 
nature of a Scheidemann ^ peace. They hope, on the con- 
trary, in spite of faint-hearted counsels, by the rejection of 
all Social Democratic International attempts at an under- 
standing, to impose a German peace by the help of God and 
the German sword." 

Puttkamer of the Prussian House of Lords in the Kreuzzeitung, 
Aug. 18, 1917. 

1 A peace based on the formula "No annexations and no indemnities.'^ For Scheidemann 
see note, p. 55; also note 1, p. 166. 



CONQUEST AND KULTUR. 171 

''The ideal of the minority in regard to foreign affairs is 
German world dominion and a German peace which by the 
sword shall require the submission of the whole world to 
German dictation." 

Vorwarts, Sept. 3, 1917. The minority here referred to is. of 
course, the group that voted against the Reichstag resolution for 
no annexations and no indemnities. The passing weeks make it 
increasingly evident that the Government finds itself unable to 
abandon the idea of a German peace imposed by the German 
sword. 



*' The annexationists cry in chorus that the majority of 
the people is not behind the Reichstag, and impudently 
affirm that the people are enthusiastic for their aims of con- 
quest. This is laughable, but the German political system 
prevents the governors from coming in contact with the 
governed and from learning their real opinion." 

Dr. David, in Vorwarts, Sept. 2, 1917. This closing passage 
strikes a hopeful note. The problem of the German people is to 
bring their governors into contact with real opinion within and 
without Germany. 



V 



.Cliiist 





MAN PLAN 

by War 
^ND IN ASIA 



he Near East 
ria, Turkey) 



THE EAST 

Hi n- Cairo- Cape) 



enSfBerlin-Constantza-Oonstantinople) 



FRANCE 







B B 



ALGERIA f^^ 
(French) / 9 



THE SECRET OF GI 
The Central Powers 



Germany 

Austria-Hungary 

Bulgaria 

Turkey J 



The Occupied Territory 

Belgium 

Northern France .... 



\.^ 



Montenegro 
Roumania 



TO-DAY GERMANY C 
THAT IS WHY 



Courtesy of "The New Europe" Janus 




Poland, Lithuania, C I D A D I A kl 
Serbia, Montenegro.f r* » O I A N 

SEA 



C.S.Hammond & Co.,N.Y. 



WHY GERMANY WANTS PEACE NOW 



Petrograd 




THE PANGERMAN PLAN 

as realised by War 
IN EUROPE AND IN ASIA 

"Central Europe" and its Annexe in the Near East 

(Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey) 
The Entente Powers 
■ > J Territory occupied by Central Powers 
-.1 X Territory occupied by Entente Powers 
■■1 GERMANY'S MAIN ROUTE TO THE EAST 

{Berlin-Bagdad, Berlin-Hodeida, Berlin-Cairo-Cape) 
^^_ Supplementary Routes 

(Berlin- Trieste, Berlin-Salonioa-Athens, Berlin-Consfantza-Constantinopfe) 
!■■ Uncompleted sectors 



FRANCE . -'^^'iV 



r,\.,~-^^ Vienna ^-^^^-gu' 

AUSTRIAOi HUNGARY A V 



^S3A7ITK,J r"-^ 



^ii\ e D /y 



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ALGERIA 



I CO 



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THE SECRET OF GERMANY'S PEACE OFFER 
The Central Powers Population (in round figures) 



■^ 


52 000 000 


Bulgaria 


.... 5,500,000 






The Occupied Territory 


146,500,000 








18,000.000 






Roumania 


5,000,000 



40,500.000 
TO-DAY GERMANY CONTROLS 187,000,000 People 
THAT IS WHY SHE WANTS PEACE 

Cnurtesy of "The New Europe" January 11, 1917. 




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